A/N: I accidentally stumbled onto a Ginny/Hermione fic a while ago, and at first I was like "uhhh what" and now I'm all "d'aww". I've gotten trapped into the pairing, so of course I had to write a fic about them! It's not quite my usual thing – Wolfstar is still my favorite – but there's just something about this pairing that I love. Warning: this pairing is girl/girl, so if that offends you, please don't read it. This is pure clichéd fluffiness, and I've thrown my rules of being strictly canon out the window, but despite its silliness please enjoy anyways. :)
Ginny Weasley was in near hysterics. It was September 12th, almost exactly a month since her fourteenth birthday, and she was back at Hogwarts, but something was terribly wrong.
"Hermione!" she wailed, running out of the fourth years' dormitory and up to the fifth years' one. "Hermione!"
Hermione looked up from the book she was reading as she lounged comfortably on her four-poster, and was startled to see the youngest Weasley rush into her dormitory, nearly in tears. Immediately she sat up and gave Ginny her full attention. Ginny was made of strong mettle – growing up with six brothers, she had to be – and it took a lot to make her lose control; therefore Hermione knew that something horrible had happened.
"What's wrong?" she asked, placing the book aside and sliding off of her bed to hurry over to where Ginny had slumped, terrified, near the doorway. "Ginny, what's going on?"
Ginny shivered; she was terrified that something horrid was happening to her. "I – there's something wrong – lots of blood..." she trailed off, suddenly blushing, unable to articulate what the problem was. Mortified and scared, she pointed to below her abdomen.
To Ginny's horror Hermione began to laugh. It was a gentle laugh, almost a laugh of relief, not cruel at all, but Ginny drew back and stumbled towards the doorway, even more confused and scared, and now a little hurt.
Hermione realized that she was being rude, and she forced herself to stop, biting her lip. "Ginny," she said carefully, slowly making her way towards the younger girl. "It's okay. It's completely normal."
Bewildered, Ginny sank to the floor, wincing as another spasm of pain battered her stomach. "It's normal?" she echoed. "How can this be normal?"
Half an hour later Hermione had shown a thoroughly embarrassed Ginny what to do about the problem, and they were back in the dormitory, sitting on Hermione's bed.
After understanding the situation, Ginny was able to laugh at what had happened, and she was already shaking her head at her dramatic, panicked antics half an hour earlier.
"Oh, Merlin," she groaned, smirking, "I can't believe no one ever told me about this. Maybe then I wouldn't have made such a fool of myself."
Hermione giggled, and then frowned thoughtfully. "I am surprised your Mum didn't tell you, especially at your age. I would have thought that she'd be really good for that sort of thing."
Ginny shook her head. "Not really. It's probably because she's had so many sons, but I think she's forgotten what it's like to be a teenage girl."
"Well – she's told you the essentials, hasn't she?"
"The what?"
"The... the facts of life." Now Hermione was the embarrassed one.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you do know how babies are made, don't you?"
"Oh, you mean sex?" Ginny was dismissive. "Of course I know about sex. I'm fourteen, Hermione."
Hermione frowned, but then Ginny did have older brothers. Still, it meant that she didn't have to do the awkward job of explaining to Ginny what happened when a man and a woman loved each other.
"That's a relief," Hermione finally said, smiling at the redhead. "Because I wasn't sure how I was going to explain it."
"It would have been funny to see."
Hermione scowled, but she allowed the teasing, only retaliating with a disapproving "hmph." She couldn't keep the scowl up for long, however, and soon she smiled again, poking the other girl. "Congratulations on coming into your womanhood!" she said, beaming.
Ginny just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, great. Now I can bleed to death anytime I want."
"No, really! I mean, obviously you're a little young, but now you can have children. It's a big moment. You're growing up."
"Children? Who says I want children?" Ginny said, suddenly aghast. The idea of having children was dreadful to Ginny at this young age, and she made a face, which set Hermione off giggling again.
"When you find the right man, you'll see."
Suddenly sober, Ginny frowned, looking away from Hermione, unable to meet her eye. Her heartbeat kicked up. "I don't think that's going to happen."
"Of course it will!" Hermione grabbed Ginny's hand, making the redhead look over at her. "You're a beautiful girl, Ginny. In a few years all the boys will be after you."
"What if I don't want them to?"
Hermione looked puzzled. "Well, like I said, you're a little young – "
"No," said Ginny quietly, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. What if Hermione freaked out? "That's not what I mean. What if... what if I don't want a boy chasing after me?"
"I – er, well..." Hermione hadn't quite seen this coming, and now she was flustered, unsure of what to say. She was suddenly conscious that she was still holding Ginny's hand, and she dropped it, awkwardly looking away.
Her face burning, and sort of horrified, Ginny wished she hadn't said anything. "It's just – with six brothers, why would I possibly want another man in my life? And... er,"
Hermione realized how uncomfortable Ginny was, and how much it had probably cost her to admit this secret. She felt a rush of warmth towards the redhead, and took her hand again, determined that this didn't change anything – they were still friends. "There's no need to explain," said Hermione, suddenly cheerful. "You are who you are, and that's perfectly alright."
Ginny looked up and smiled, her heart full of at her friend's acceptance. She pulled Hermione into a hug, whispering, "Thank you."
And all the while she tried to ignore the wonderful, unique fragrance surrounded Hermione, and the way her traitorous heart fluttered at her the other girl's warmth and nearness.
Hermione wandered down to dinner an hour later, distracted in a haze of her thoughts. She nearly jumped out of her bones when Ron addressed her, and she spilled gravy all over Harry by accident. As she sopped up an annoyed Harry, the floral scent that she had been trying not to think about all evening wafted towards her.
"Hermione," said Ginny, smirking as she sat down across from her, "Harry's already survived the Killing Curse, so somehow I don't think that spilling gravy all over his trousers is going to do him in. You might want to try something else."
Hermione scowled, blushing fiercely. What's wrong with me? she wondered, trying to concentrate on eating her peas while avoiding Ginny's gaze and tuning out Harry's and Ron's laughter. Ginny told me she was gay, it's not like she confessed she was in love with me.
But the problem was, Hermione mused later, after she had excused herself from dinner and had hidden herself away in the library, suddenly a part of her wished that Ginny had done exactly that.
At this admission to herself, Hermione looked up wildly, afraid that someone was going to take note of this thought and disapprove. But when all of the books stayed exactly as they were and Madam Pince made no move to throw her out, she let out a sigh of relief, trying to shake off her paranoia. True, in a wizarding school there was always the danger of Legilimency, but in this case she decided she was safe.
Still, even though no one knew what she was thinking, there was still the secret itself to contend with. Why was Hermione suddenly interested in Ginny? She knew it wasn't that she was making up a weird attraction towards Ginny just because of her admission; it was more like once Ginny had vocalized it, Hermione felt suddenly confident enough to explore thoughts that she had always censored before.
Not that she was gay, too. Of course not. There were lots of boys that she liked. Viktor Krum, for example. Although that had been short-lived, and she had never been that into him anyways. But there was Malfoy... or at least he would have been cute, sort of, had he not been such an ass. And there was always Ron, obviously. Or Dean Thomas, or maybe even Neville, if he ever grew a spine...
She slammed down her book in frustration, this time earning a disapproving scowl from Madam Pince. She took the hint and sheepishly crept out of the library, leaving the book behind. Hermione stole past Ron and Harry, feigning fatigue, and escaped at last to her bed, left alone with her new and confusing thoughts.
Was it possible that she liked Ginny, in that way? She had never really considered it before, not just with Ginny, but with any girl.
No, that was a lie. Hermione turned over in her bed and stared out the window, recalling last summer, before she had gone to the Burrow, when her parent's had enrolled her in a medical camp. They fully supported her being a wizard, but they were still keen on the idea of her becoming some sort of a doctor, like them. She had humored them, deciding that it would be interesting to learn about different muggle health careers, and in the end, she became friends with someone, a girl named Audrey.
She scowled. That had just been a phase, though, and too much summer sunshine. The camp, which had turned out to be dull, had gone to her head, and she and her friend had just been fooling around. It had only been a kiss.
But it had been a wonderful kiss. And it had been so different than snogging Viktor had been. Would it be so bad to kiss Ginny? Beautiful Ginny, with her ginger hair and her freckles...
Hermione sighed, pulling her pillow over her head, and resigned herself to a sleepless night.
She woke up the next morning grateful for once that it was Saturday and that she didn't have class to deal with. Even though it was early, she pulled on her robes – for early September, it was already quite cool – and went down to breakfast, relishing the idea of a peaceful meal.
To her dismay, Ginny was already sitting at the breakfast table with a stack of buttered toast in front of her. Hermione turned around, ready to escape, but Ginny had spotted her.
"Hermione!" she called out, smiling, and Hermione was caught. Her stomach gave a funny sort of jolt, and she anxiously walked towards the Gryffindor table.
"Morning, Ginny," she said, smiling weakly. Ginny gave her an odd, measured look, and Hermione quickly looked away and spooned herself some oatmeal.
They ate in relative silence, Hermione's stomach churning nervously and making her feel awkward. Ginny casually munched her way through her pile of toast, throwing out different topics, which Hermione could only lamely reply to.
Finally Ginny let out a sigh and stood up. "All right, let's sort this out, then."
Hermione nervously looked about as if trying to find who Ginny was addressing. Ginny motioned towards the door, and Hermione reluctantly stood up and followed the redhead outside. It was lovely out, if a little cold, and Hermione was glad that she was wearing her scarf. They walked quietly together until they reached the lake, and then Ginny turned around and looked straight at Hermione.
"What's wrong, Hermione?"
Hermione put on her best bewildered face and shrugged. "What on earth are you talking about, Ginevra?"
Ginny made a face. "Ugh, don't call me that."
Trying to smile and feeling too nervous to do so, Hermione desperately went through a list of organized conclusions that she had come to last night. But she couldn't remember anything – Ginny's nearness was making her too nervous.
"Seriously, Hermione. You've been weird ever since I came out to you. Do I freak you out now? I'm still just your best mate's little sister, you know. One of your friends. I'm not going to molest you."
Hermione sucked in a cheek, trying not to wonder what it would be like to have Ginny molest her and trying not to notice the pretty freckles that spanned across Ginny's nose. "Of course you don't freak me out."
"Then what's wrong?"
"I..." Hermione didn't know what to say; everything was happening too fast, and she didn't have the words or the time to process this. This exact feeling had happened over the summer, too. Don't analyze, act, Audrey had said. Just go with how you feel. What do you want, Hermione?
So for lack of a way to explain what was going on to herself or to Ginny, she leaned forward and kissed the redhead. It was awkward; they bumped noses and Ginny drew back in surprise, eyes wide.
Hermione took a step back, aghast at herself and already regretting her rashness. How could she have been so reckless? What a stupid, stupid thing to do! Now Ginny was going to hate her, and she had lost her best female friend – and she wasn't very good at making friends with girls, so what if she was stuck with Ron and Harry forever?
But then Ginny smiled. She lifted her hand and traced Hermione's cheek, causing a thrill to go through her. Hermione opened her mouth, brimming with sudden hope, but before she could speak Ginny was leaning forward to meet her mouth. This time it was perfect, all soft lips and warm breath and flowery scent. It felt like Hermione was flying, and although she had always been afraid of flying, now she felt safe and perfect in Ginny's arms –
Ginny drew back, and she was beaming, laughing, spilling out an addicting happiness that Hermione couldn't help but catch, and then they were both laughing and snorting and clutching onto each other for support. And then they were kissing again, and then somehow they were lying on the grass, staring up at the clouds.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," said Hermione, sighing with happiness, waffling her hand into Ginny's. "I didn't know how. I wasn't... I was afraid that you'd think I suddenly decided I was gay because you were. I was afraid that I'd suddenly decided I was gay because you were."
"Stupid," Ginny said affectionately. "You can tell me anything. And anyways, it's my fault. I sort of hoped that if I told you I was gay, you'd admit you were madly in love with me."
"Clever plan," Hermione mocked, grinning.
"It worked, didn't it?"
Hermione answered with a kiss, deciding that maybe for once, just acting and letting emotions do the thinking actually had its benefits. And as though to reinforce that theory, which Hermione stored in the back of her mind to examine later, Ginny snogged Hermione back, tasting of toast and Saturday mornings, of strawberry and absolute perfection.