Of Poetry and Jerseys
They met in an ethics class. It was a required course for their university and they ended up sitting next to each other.
"This class is going to be a joke," the red head next to Hermione murmured once the lesson began. Hermione cracked a smile at that—she had to agree. The professor was scatterbrained, forgetting all his paperwork on the first day.
"It's a waste of my time," Hermione muttered, but pulled out a notebook anyways. They were ten minutes into the lecture before they spoke again.
"I'm Ginny, by the way."
"Hermione," she introduced herself. They both didn't look up from what they were doing, but smiled.
"You play soccer?" Hermione asked, eyeing Ginny's jersey with her last name on the back.
"I'm here on a scholarship to play, yeah," Ginny said proudly with a smile on her lips. "We have a game tomorrow afternoon, if you're interested."
Hermione hated sports with a deep passion.
She found herself nodding a promise to go.
Hermione went and sat with a book in her bag, but didn't pull it out. By the end, she was standing and cheering and flat out screaming. She caught herself at the end—when Ginny's team won—jumping up and down screaming. Blushing, she straightened her shirt and picked up her bag, following the crowd out of the stands.
"You came," Ginny stated with a smile. She was coated in sweat and dirt and her red-and-gold jersey was covered in mud.
"I said I would." Hermione shrugged, afraid she was still blushing.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Ginny fixed her hair, pulling the mess of red into a bun. Hermione found herself staring at the freckles splashed across the younger woman's face.
Ginny never took notes. The woman was smart and bright and always asked brilliant questions, but she never bothered to open a notebook. Hermione wasn't even sure she brought one to class. Ginny did the homework and always seemed to do well, but she spent more time zoning out or on her phone or doodling than obviously paying attention.
Hermione always took notes. Her notes were color coded both by pen and highlighter. Her notes were pristine and students who had absences tended to offer things in exchange for photocopying her notes. She never accepted anything in return; she just expected them to have a valid reason for being absent.
When Ginny missed a class for an away soccer game, Hermione made two sets of perfect notes by hand without even asking. Ginny's team lost, so she sulked when she came into the next class. Hermione slid the notes across the table they shared in the middle of the lecture, still writing the current notes.
She misses the way Ginny starts to grin.
There was another game and Hermione told Ginny she was going before the woman even asked.
"Hey, would you want to work on our papers—I don't know—tomorrow together? We can meet at the library," Ginny asked in response. She wasn't asking for help; Hermione saw the grades Ginny received.
Hermione nodded eagerly.
For the next home game, Hermione doesn't even pack a book.
When they studied, it started off quiet. Both women sat, surrounded by stacks of books, typing away. After a while, one spoke and then the other and soon they stopped working on the paper due in two weeks and focused on each other.
"What's your favorite pass time?" Hermione asked, assuming it would be a sports-related hobby.
"Painting or being with my family. They might be a handful, but I love them." Ginny played with the ends of her ponytail, fiery red hair spinning.
"You paint?" Hermione asked. She knew Ginny doodled a lot, but painting was something different.
"I'm not all sports," Ginny scoffed, but in a teasing manner.
"I—I didn't—"
"I'm teasing you," Ginny laughed. Hermione blushed and Ginny laughed more. Hermione's blushes were always a soft, warm pink. Ginny's real favorite pastime was making her blush.
"So…you paint?" Hermione murmured, trying to move the conversation along.
"Indeed I do. Mostly acrylics, but I use water colors, too." She shrugged. "What about you? What's your favorite pastime?"
"Reading," Hermione replied simply. "Reading or writing."
"I'm guessing all those books in your bag aren't just for school then," Ginny teased her again. Her smile was charming, lips rosy and a little on the thin side. They fit her face perfectly.
"I read a lot," Hermione admitted and Ginny laughed. Hermione didn't realize it, but Ginny was laughing at Hermione's flustered expression, not her response.
A librarian walked by and shushed them.
Hermione had never been shushed in a library before. If anything, she did the shushing.
She didn't really care.
"Wouldyouwanttogetcoffeesometime?" Hermione asked so quickly her words smashed together.
"I'd love to."
Hermione hated coffee. She preferred tea. Specifically, she loved passion fruit tea because it was so pretty and stained her mugs a faint pink. Ginny loved mochas.
The next class, Hermione walked in and found her favorite tea in a paper cup on her side of the desk. She could see Ginny smiling, but the woman didn't look up from her phone.
"I love your hair," Ginny admitted one evening. They were walking back to campus from the local coffee shop they made a habit of visiting.
"It's so…big," Hermione sighed.
"Exactly. It's big and wild and beautiful." Ginny's words were genuine and Hermione blushed. Her hand that wasn't holding her tea flew up to her hair, self-conscious, and tried to flatten it. With the hand not holding her half-hot-chocolate-half-white-mocha, Ginny pulled Hermione's hand away from her mane of curls.
She didn't let go of Hermione's hand until they parted ways.
When rainy season surprised them, Hermione ended up stranded on campus. She was in Ginny's dorm room, soaked to the bone. She hadn't brought an umbrella and home was a 20 minute walk away. Ginny insisted she come back with her.
As a second year, Ginny had a larger dorm. She had her own room connected to a small living room she shared with two other rooms where her team mates lived. It was slightly messy, but just enough to prove it was lived in.
Ginny's room wasn't what Hermione expected. Her sheets matched her team's colors: red and gold. The walls were completely covered, an even split between soccer posters and artwork. She had framed photos of large groups of red heads, people Hermione felt she could safely assume were related to Ginny.
"Come on, you need to change," Ginny insisted. She dragged Hermione to a chest of drawers and tugged out some clothes. Hermione grabbed what looked like a past year's jersey and some sweatpants.
She turned to leave the room to change, but Ginny was already pulling her damp shirt off. Hermione felt herself take a sharp intake of breath. Her eyes lingered on Ginny's dramatic tan lines developed from years of soccer and the expanse of her freckles.
"You're beautiful," Hermione murmured without thinking. For once, Ginny was the one to blush.
"You need to change, Ginny quietly repeated. She held the new, dry shirt in her hand and let the damp one hit the ground.
Slowly, Hermione pulled off her own shirt. Ginny stared too, eyes wandering hungrily. "You're beautiful, too," she breathed.
When Hermione left, she took Ginny's jersey with her.
To the next class, Hermione wore a loud red jersey with WEASLEY written in gold on the back.
Ginny wore the blue v-neck Hermione had left in the jersey's place.
They both beamed and laughed.
Hermione wrote down quotes that reminded her of Ginny. She copied poems and highlighted the best parts. She compiled her favorite words and wrote them on cute paper with her multicolored pens and slid them to Ginny during class.
Ginny had an entire folder dedicated to the words Hermione shared with her.
"My family is coming to this game," Ginny informed Hermione as they sat snuggled up on the old, worn sofa Hermione bought second-hand for her apartment. They were almost done with season two of Parks and Rec, Ginny's favorite show. She had seen it several times, but wanted to show it to Hermione. "I'd like you to meet them."
Hermione looked at Ginny with wide eyes. "I'd like to, too."
Ginny laced her fingers with Hermione's and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you."
Ginny gave Hermione art that she inspired. She would slide Hermione full pages of doodles. She brought her water colored flowers and small canvases coated in thick layers of paint.
One larger canvas was Hermione from the side, reading a book. Hermione would never stop being impressed with how much detail Ginny put into painting Hermione's hair.
Hermione's bedroom walls were covered in art.
Toward the end of term, they sat down and planned their classes together. They would only have one class together—another requirement—seeing as they were different majors, but they were happy with that.
The last game of the term was when the Weasleys came to watch. They couldn't all make it (some of the oldest siblings lived too far away), but her brothers Percy, Fred, George, and Ron came with her parents. It was hard keeping names straight for so many red heads.
The whole family was lively. Hermione was shocked, being an only child, but she didn't mind. Mrs. Weasley doted on her and Mr. Weasley talked to her about her history courses.
They all yelled and cheered for Ginny. Hermione found herself grateful to have other people with her for once; she usually sat alone. Her friends weren't into sports.
After the game, Ginny showered and then they all went out for dinner. Ginny held Hermione's hand the entire time. It felt right.
"You can stay with me some of break," Hermione offered nervously. "I know you still have practice and home is a commute, so the days you have to stay in town, you can stay in my apartment or whatever." Hermione worried her bottom lip. The dorms were closed during break.
"I'd like that," Ginny said softly. She picked up a lock of Hermione's hair and played with it affectionately. "I'll help with groceries and chores and—"
Hermione kissed her to shut her up.
"I'm going to fail," Hermione cried out. She was worrying her lip so much it was bleeding and tugged on her hair nervously. "I'm not going to pass any of my classes and I'm going to lose my financial aid and—"
"Hermione, love," Ginny said softly, taking Hermione's face in her hands gently. "You'll do amazing. Breathe. I'll grab the color coded index cards from your desk and we can fill them out together. I'll make some tea and then we can discuss essay questions. It'll be great."
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded.
Ginny never studied before. She just knew it calmed Hermione.
"I passed!" Hermione shouted when she checked her grades during break. She had been lying in her bed besides Ginny, but was now bouncing around the room. There was never any real doubt Hermione would break her 4.0 GPA streak, but it was fun to watch her dance excitedly.
"Told you so," Ginny smirked. Hermione was in Ginny's old jersey she had stolen and her underwear. Ginny couldn't get over how gorgeous Hermione was in such a natural way. Her honey hair shined in the light that made it past the drawn blinds and the gold flakes in her eyes were so bright they glowed. Ginny couldn't imagine someone more beautiful.
She had been using so much brown acrylic recently.
"Oh, shut up," Hermione giggled and pounced on her girlfriend.
"I love you," Ginny murmured through their kiss.
"I love you, too."