Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, and I'm sure that's probably been done before as well!
A/N: Heya! Not sure how long this is going to be, or quite where it's going, but it will be eventually femmeslash, so if that's not your thing I'd steer clear! It's sort of set the summer after Ginny's taken her OWLs, but only from an age sort of thing, as far as plot is concerned I'm pretty much ignoring Voldemort, and we're to assume nothing's happened between Ginny and Harry, and Hermione and Ron split up about a month previously. So yeah, very AU! Hope you enjoy:
"… Listen, I've got to go, I have stuff to do, but I'll see you soon, yeah?" the girl in the fireplace told her, giving her a small smile.
Ginny tried not to let her shock and hurt at the abrupt dismissal show, as she forced her face into something resembling a smile, "Sure, see you soon…" she paused, debating whether or not it would be deemed proper to say it. Oh, stuff propriety, "luffoo." She pronounced the 'f' clearly, not wanted to be misunderstood, but Hermione's face still seemed to cloud over slightly before she disappeared from view.
Ginny closed her eyes, sighing with despair before reaching out towards to the space where her friend ("but you don't see her like that, do you?" an unkind voice in her head whispered) had been only moments before. "I love you," she whispered, not bothering to disguise the meaning this time and feeling like a clichéd character from one of the romance novels she secretly loved to lose herself in. She sat staring into the fire, feeling sorry for herself, for a few moments longer before heaving a sigh and pulling herself to her feet, padding softly towards her bedroom.
Now in bed, Ginny bit her lip as she stared unseeing into the darkness. Why? Why did she have to fall for her female, straight best friend? Why couldn't she have fallen for Harry, like everyone expected her to? Why did she have to fall in love with the smartest, funniest, kindest, most beautiful witch that she knew? Closing her eyes against the threatening tears she rolled over, attempting to fall asleep.
"Ginny? Ginny, over here!" She turned, smiling as she saw the one person who could always brighten up her day.
"Hermione! How are you?" her tone was excited, and the older girl must have noticed, because she grinned, crossing the room towards to redhead and opening her arms, greeting her with a friendly hug.
"I'm alright Ginny, better now I'm here with you though; the boys are driving me mad!"
Ginny giggled, looking up through her eyelashes in a slightly flirtatious manner as she spoke, "I don't drive you mad then?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, leaning down to position her lips right next to her girlfriend's ear as she spoke in a sensuous whisper, "Quite the contrary, you drive me completely mad," she pressed a butterfly kiss to the top of her jawbone, just below her ear, making Ginny shiver slightly as Hermione continued, "Somehow, though, I don't seem to mind it as much when it's you…" she pulled back, smirking slightly at the expression on the redhead's face before turning away and making to leave the hall.
Ginny stood, frozen for a couple of moments before she came to her senses, hurrying after Hermione and catching up with her just as she left the hall, grabbing hold of the other girl's arm gently to prevent her from leaving, "Where are you going?" she asked hurriedly, her voice a mixture of hurt and bewilderment.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, glancing around and keeping her voice low, "Somewhere slightly more private. I haven't seen you for a week, and I'm not about to greet you properly in front of that lot!"
Ginny laughed, slipping her hand into that of the older girl as they slipped around the corner and out of sight, before she was pulled through a small door she'd never noticed before and into a deserted room. She glanced around in confusion, wondering where they were, and turned back to Hermione to ask. The words never left her mouth however, because just as she was about to speak she suddenly found her lips covered by the other girl's, her eyes closing instinctively at the sensation as she wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist. God she'd missed this…
"Ginny? Ginny, wake up, it's time for breakfast!" Molly's voice came up the stairs, pulling the redhead from her decidedly pleasant dream and back into the realms of reality.
Groaning softly as she realised she'd been dreaming of her again, she sat up, calling down to her mother, "Yeah alright mum, I'll be down in a minute." She swung her legs over the side of her bed, sitting still for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the light and her head stopped spinning from sitting up so fast, and wondering when it would stop. She'd really, really thought she was getting somewhere this time, having found herself able to go for hours at a time without finding her mind full of thoughts of the brunette, but she knew from experience that the dream would mean she'd be lucky to escape for a few minutes for the next couple of days.
Sighing, she got up and threw on her dressing-gown before making her way downstairs, reflecting that the traitorous actions of her subconscious had almost certainly put her recovery time back by at least a couple of weeks. Still, she supposed, what was a couple of weeks when compared with years? She paused on the landing, closing her eyes momentarily against the wave of depression that always hit when she thought about how long she'd been in love with her best friend. It was pathetic, really, the fact that she couldn't move on.
It wasn't as though Hermione was the only girl that she knew, not at all, and it definitely wasn't that the brunette was giving her any encouragement. Ginny would have known if she had, because she found herself going over every single conversation she had with the older girl in the following hours, searching it for signs of her feeling the same. Sometimes, just sometimes, there would be a split second where she'd have been turned away, and she'd turn back to Hermione and for a moment the look in the other girl's eyes would seem to resemble her own. But then it would be gone again, and she'd realise that she'd imagined it again, and she would have to realise once again that Hermione had never, did not, and would never feel anything but friendship towards her.
It had been okay at first, almost exciting even as she finally realised why she never felt the same things for guys that her friends were always going on about. She said she did, of course, but in reality it wasn't until she began to see Hermione in a different light that she understood what they were talking about, love and lust and desire and everything else that came with it, all the emotions that she'd suddenly understood in a split second very much like that morning.
It had been a dream then, too, that had opened her eyes to the reality of her feelings, and for a few months she had just been biding her time. After all, she'd reasoned, it was impossible for her feelings to be that deep without them being reciprocated, wasn't it? It was almost inevitable, what with her and Hermione being so close. She laughed hollowly when she thought back to that time now, how naive she'd been. Because the feelings weren't reciprocated, of that much she was sure, but now every day they were getting stronger, she realised that now, and there were more and more times when propriety flew out of the window and she found herself saying or doing little things to try and relieve at least part of the ache to just tell the other girl how she felt.
Hermione's face from the night before swam into her mind, the slight look of confusion and something else Ginny couldn't quite identify when she'd said 'luffoo'. She felt a little ridiculous now, who actually said that at sixteen anyway? But it had saved from confessing all for a few more days, and for that she was thankful. Taking a deep breath to clear her head, she turned back towards the stairs, knowing she needed to get down to the kitchen soon unless she wanted her mum to wonder what was up. It was two days into the summer holidays, and Hermione and Ron had broken up only a month ago, so it was quite likely she might be able to get through the next six weeks without having to see the older girl. The thought made her heart twist painfully, but she ignored it, trying to be pragmatic. If she didn't see Hermione for six weeks, then maybe she could finally move on, and escape from this painful situation.
The thought brought a small, determined smile to her lips. Yes, she resolved, she was going to move past this, and the time away from the brunette would provide a perfect opportunity for that. Now smiling properly, she made her way downstairs, and entered the kitchen, freezing as she noticed an extra head at the table. The figure looked up with a smile, whatever had been bothering her the night before forgotten, "Hi Ginny!"
Ginny gulped, trying to put the images from her dream out of her mind and look unbothered by this new development, "Er, hi Hermione."
Her mother appeared, quickly pulling her off to the side of the room with a slight frown of concern, "Ginny dear, I'm not sure what, but something's happened between Hermione and her parents, she asked me if she could stay here for the summer, sounded quite desperate too. She's cheered up a bit since she got here, but something's not right love, and you know what things are like between her and Ron at the moment; you'll look after her, won't you? I've told her she can share your room."
Ginny nodded instinctively, her head spinning. So much for getting over Hermione, it would be all she could do not to confess all to the other girl. It was going to be a long six weeks.