This chapter is dedicated to my friend Mary, who asked, on several occasions, "Is there a new chapter of Confessions yet?" to which I always replied, "no, but I'll write it soon!" Well, I'm not even going to get this beta'ed. I'm severely disappointed with Draco's behaviour in Half-Blood Prince, so I just needed to end this story. Sorry the last one was so short, I don't know why it was... this one is much longer. Almost 8 pages (only two short of your request, Xani!). The Draco/Hermione thing was supposed to tie in with another fic that I was going to write but I can't very well write that because of that stupid bastard Malfoy... angry grumbling

Thanks for reviewing, IssaLee, IMustNotChaseTheBoys and snoggalicious!

And a double thanks to Xani and Shayla Leigh, for commenting on a bunch of chapters, including my last one.

Monday, January 15

4:11 AM, Dormitory

Why am I up so early? Grr.

4:24 AM, Dormitory

Damn. I'm still awake. My stomach hurts.

5:09 AM, Dormitory

Urgh. Do not feel well AT ALL.

9:31 AM, Dormitory

Shouldn't I be in class? Don't care. Can't move anyway.

1:38 PM, Dormitory

Hermione brought me some soup. I hate this. I'm sweating like a pig. So I go on top of my quilt. Then I'm freezing. So I go back under and my temperature is up like 40,000,000 degrees. What is wrong with me? I wish Draco was here.

4:21 PM, Dormitory

Have been puking into a bucket for the better part of an hour. Hermione escorted me to the hospital wing.

4:42 PM, Hospital Wing

Have been diagnosed with a regular tummy lurgy paired with a regular cold. So nothing to do but wait it out. The Pepperup Potion won't agree with my stomach. So I have to lie here forever until I get better. Might as well sleep. Pomfrey gave me some potion to settle my stomach.

Tuesday, January 16

2:31 AM, Hospital Wing

Woke up to someone stroking my hair and holding my hands. I heard someone shushing, so I didn't scream or say anything. I didn't see anyone either. I must be hallucinating. I definitely need some ice.

3:30 AM, Hospital Wing

Am still being stroked. After some more shushing, I heard someone say, "Ginny, it's me."

"Who are you?" I whispered back.

"It's me, Draco," he said again. He put his cool hand on my forhead.

I sighed and attempted to pull the covers over my head, but I was too weak. "Don't look at me. Where are you?"

"Here," he said, patting the bed on my left side. The moonlight was falling through the gap in the curtains, casting a shadow of what must be Draco across the bed.

"Thank God you're here, I feel like dying."

"Shh, don't talk like that. You'll be better soon. Just go back to sleep. I'll stay here as long as I can." He kissed me gently on the cheek.

Thursday, January 18

5:28 PM, Hospital Wing

Wow. I'm finally awake. Apparently I've drifted in and out of consciousness since yesterday. I'm on the mend, according to Madam Pomfrey. At one point, they say I screamed "SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!" but I have no recollection of that whatsoever. I don't even know what 'Soylent Green' is!

Friday, January 19

3:30 PM, Dormitory

Madame Pomfrey FINALLY let me go. I'm still not supposed to play quidditch. Harry found a replacement chaser. Figures. Now I can't play in the match tomorrow. At least I'm still allowed to go. But still, the nerve! I don't think I will ever forgive Harry for replacing me. I'm not just... replaceable, you know? There's only one me! Woo, I think I'm still a bit delerious.

Saturday, January 20

10:38 AM, Quidditch Pitch

I'm glad I'm not playing today. Gosh, it would be freezing up on the broomstick. I managed to talk to most of the teachers this morning, and they said that as long as I read and get the notes we took, I don't have to do any homework. Except Snape. I have to do the essay he assigned on Monday. Stupid git. I'll do it after the match. I don't have much choice, do I?

2:46 PM, Quidditch Pitch

We lost, that stupid chaser was really bad. So now I must do a stupid essay for stupid Snape. On the bright side, Draco seemed happy; our loss is advantageous to Slytherin for the House Cup. Damn. Why did I have to get sick? That was so weird. It happens though. Anyway, have decided to stop worrying about weight and appearance, because it's just too much to care about; I don't want to risk getting sick again!

6:09 PM, Head Peoples' Dormitory

I hate this. Hermione was studying random things but left to go get a texbook, and I'm writing this stupid essay. I hate potions. I hate it! Just when I was wishing for more excitement in my life, Draco ran into his room with a goofy smile on his face.

I skimmed once over my potions essay. I needed like another six inches. Six inches!

"Oh Ginny, thank God you're here. Help me fasten this?" Draco said. I tried my hardest not to laugh. He was wearing the most ridiculous costume (if you could call it that) ever. He was clutching a white bedsheet around himself, one corner coming across his shoulder. I used a sticking spell and stuck it together.

"May I inquire as to why you are wearing that ludicrous get-up?" I said.

"Oh... this. Well, after the quidditch match, Crabbe found the teachers' Firewhisky stash."

"I see..."

"And Potter had this absurd, but highly amusing, idea from a muggle film he saw, that we all dress up in togas!"

"Harry's there?" I asked.

"Yes," he said delicately.

"Why was I not invited?" I whined, arranging my mouth into a pout.

"Firstly," he explained, "you're a girl. We don't want the girls there. They'd cramp our style, if you know what I mean."

I shot him my Angry Glare. He should know by that glare that I am v. angry.

"No, we're not doing anything like that," he said with a slight chuckle. "And also, in case it's escaped your gorgeous auburn head, we're not supposed to be seen in public together. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get my crown."

"But why is Harry there?" I asked.

"To tell you the truth? I don't know. He and a few of his friends just wandered in, and we didn't want to be rude..."

Draco went back into his room. He emerged a minute later wearing a crown of leaves, like the people in the really old Muggle Olympics wore. Except his leaves were longer and narrower. I think he got them from that cute houseplant he has in his room.

Draco shut his bedroom door behind himself, obviously oblivious to the fact that the corner of his bedsheet got caught in the door. And my sticking spells are not as strong as they should be. Draco kept walking across the room, and apparently he did not notice that it was a bit breezy until he was almost at the opposite side.

I'm sixteen. I'm a girl. What did you expect me to do, close my eyes? Draco turned beet red. He raced back across the room and picked up the sheet. I didn't laugh or giggle. In my humble opinion, I was very considerate and respectful, given the situation.

He re-arranged his toga as Hermione walked in. "Could you fasten this for me?" he asked her, shooting an Angry Glare back at me. My glare is angrier, I think.

"Of course," and Hermione performed another sticking spell on the toga. He could trust her, and plus, her spell was probably way stronger than mine. Draco left, noticeably feeling awkward.

Not that I'd ever tell anyone, but I liked what I saw.

8:38 PM, Head Peoples' Dormitory

"Hermione, what have you and Draco been up to lately?" I asked. I need to know.

"What?" she said distractedly. "Oh, nothing, I mean, we... we just talk and stuff, but really, there's nothing going on. Why?"

"Oh, it's just that he's... rude... and I don't want anything to happen between you and him."

"Eew, Malfoy? And ME!" she shrieked. "No way! We're just friends!" Judging by that reaction, she wouldn't do anything with him. But I still want to know what's going on.

Sunday, January 21

8:31 PM, Dormitory

I'm such a perv. I really need to work on my sticking spells. Sigh.

Monday, January 22

10:44 AM, Potions

Why do I keep thinking about Draco? Oh yeah...now I remember.

Snape seemed surprised that I actually finished my essay! And he frowned when he was reading it, so that meant a) it was terrible or b) it was amazing. Hermione didn't even help me. And I was sick for a week. I'm guessing a).

Wednesday, January 24

5:30 PM, Common-Room

Have decided I don't want to shag Draco any time soon. He's hot... but I'm not ready. Damn hormones. But I miss him. I haven't seen him in like 75 hours. And it hurts. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm going to bed.

Thursday, January 25

3:09 AM, Draco's Room

What am I doing here? This is stupid.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?" Draco asked.

"I-I... I'm really not sure," I confessed.

"Is everything all right? Should I take you back to the hospital wing?"

All of a sudden, I felt the tension in my chest relax. "No, everything's fine." I lay back on the bed beside him. Draco wrapped his arms around me and began kissing me tenderly on the lips. I kissed back, harder, more forcefully than I usually do. He pulled away.

"Ginny, are you sure nothing's up? You don't seem your usual self tonight."

"Draco, I'm fine, I just realized how much I--" my voice broke off. Could I say it to him? What would he say? What if Draco dumped me right here, right now, he in his boxers, I in my pyjamas, in the middle of his bedroom in the middle of the night?

"I love you." he finished the sentence.

"Yes, that's what I was trying to get at," I closed my eyes.

"When someone tells you they love you, Ginny, it's polite to respond with an 'I love you, too'." He grinned at me and kissed me again.

And oh, how we kissed. We'd never kissed like that before. It was all love and pash and fireworks and fresh flowers and lighting and the crashing of the ocean; like the first time I'd kissed him, but a million times better.

Draco's fingers found the waistband of my pyjama bottoms. He began to slowly pull them down. I knew what he wanted, but I didn't want it. I gently grabbed his hands and placed them firmly on my waist. He didn't protest or try anything else.

6:09 AM, Draco's Room

I guess I had fallen asleep at some point. I woke up, and Draco was sitting in a chair opposite, fully dressed. He was looking at me, but the second he noticed I was awake, he dropped his eyes back to the book he was reading. I had the sneaking suspicion that he was actually staring at me and not reading his book, as it was upside-down.

"Do you always get up this early?" I yawned.

"Actually, I do. You'd better get back to your dormitory before anyone notices that you're missing."

"Wait... before I go, I have something to ask you," I said.

"Go ahead," he replied.

"What have you and Hermione been doing?" I asked. "I've seen you guys whispering and stuff, sitting unnaturally close."

"Oh. That. Ginny, I'm sorry, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Please? I promise I won't say a word. I will not tell a soul, living or dead."

Draco looked around the room. "Fine, but if she finds out that I told you, you're going to be boyfriendless." I nodded for him to go ahead. "Well, on New Year's...after she got back from the Hospital Wing, she ... went to visit Harry, as you probably know. Well, when she went up there... she..." he trailed off. "I can't tell you, I'm sorry."

"She what? Did she kiss Harry? Did she beat him up, what did she do?"

Draco sighed. "She had sex with him. She's still really embarrassed about it. She can't face him. He and Ron were her only friends. For sure Ron knows, and probably all of the other Gryffindor boys. She's really ashamed of it, and Harry won't talk to her about it, and she really needs to talk."

"Draco, I--that's ... you're so sweet, doing something like that. Talking to her. I had no idea... I don't think anyone had any idea, but nobody in Gryffindor sees her, outside of classes. I should have tried to talk to her... but she wouldn't have opened up to me..."
"Ginny, it's OK, it's nobody's fault but Harry's."

"I'm sorry I was ever suspicious about you guys."

"You were sus--It's OK... I can see how it looked to you. You should go now."

"Bye," I whispered. Draco gave me a kiss on my forehead that made my stomach do a happy turn.

I padded through the cold school, barefoot, all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. My feet knew the way, which was a good thing, because it was still too dark to see. My feet were numb by the time I got back to my bed, but I didn't care. I lay back in bed, not sleeping, but reflecting on the events of last night.

6:09 PM, Great Hall

Everyone is asking me if I hit my head or I took some funny potion or something. Every time I ask why, they say "just wondering". Who needs to hit their head or take funny potions when they could just kiss Draco Malfoy? But now I want to die again because he's all the way on the other side of the room and I can't look at him or talk to him or touch him until I'm sure no one is looking.

Thursday, January 25

2:09 AM, Dormitory

I have realized that Draco is the one. He is my only. I can tell, it's love. Totally love. I'm serious. I'm not being all giddy and girlish and it has absolutely nothing to do with seeing him in the nuddy-pants. I'm 100 sure he is the one I'm going to be with for the rest of my life. No one understands. Even if I could tell people, they wouldn't understand. They'll never know (I'll never tell them). They'd never know how being with Draco erased every bad moment in my life, every single unfortunate memory that happened to me in my entire life. Everything that Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, or Ron had ever done to me is gone from my mind. Even thinking of him, I feel happy and giddy, even when I'm sad. It was gradual, I guess. At first, I liked him. The thrill of Forbidden Fruit. Now it's more than that. Snogging him is great fun. But it's different now. First it was only fun; now it's more than just fun, it's really deep. The only thing I can blame is love. I'm around him and I feel dizzy and lightheaded and when we're apart I feel like I want to die. There aren't even words to describe how I feel. It's just... love. I wasn't even looking and it fell in my lap. I didn't know what it was, but I kissed the hell out of it until I figured it out.

When I started my relationship with Draco, I could see us being together for the remainder of his year here. I'm not one to whore around from boyfriend to boyfriend. I was expecting it to last, but not forever. Now I know that we're destined to be together for eternity. I know I'm going to marry him. We're going to have a simple wedding. We won't tell our parents. If it comes to the extreme, we'll elope to Canada. I'll have his kids. We'll grow old together. Then I guess our kids will get married, have kids, then we'll die. And life will go on. As long as I'm with Draco, life will go on.

---

I know Soylent Green is a movie, and I was watching a movie quotes show, and Ray Romano said it would be funny to just randomly say that. So I randomly said that.

Sorry for the corny ending. Don't know what's in my fanfic future, except for "Can You Keep A Secret", which I cannot post at any story sites because they don't have a category for its type and it's too fanfictiony to be original work.

blog. crazy-girl. org/wp ?pageid 154

and remove the spaces.

Thanks again for reading, it was a pleasure writing for you!