c"Hi nice to meet you I'm…."
It was summer at the burrow, Ginny was in her 5th year, just preparing to move into her 6th after summer. She had spent most of her summertime already lazing about, getting up late and going to sleep whenever she felt like it. This was the mood throughout the household, everyone was tired out by the eventful last term of Hogwarts and all the events that had plagued them, so everyone was happy to simply relax and recharge their batteries.
Ginny though, was bored out of her mind, and another thing was on Ginny's mind, over the past few years Hermione and Ginny had become practically best friends, but near the end of the year Ginny began to feel something more for Hermione, something which she knew others would think was very wrong. But of course she was too scared to say anything to anyone. But now her mind tore back to Hermione, Ron had come in from the field holding the family owl saying;
"Hermione is coming today! She should arrive in a few hours time." Ron was clearly pleased at this too, it was only natural Ginny thought, since his brothers were all gone, he'd like to see a friend again, but Ginny had the unpleasant suspicion that it was more than that, and she knew it wasn't her business, but she couldn't stand to see Hermione even talking with someone else alone, a fact which she failed to hide sometimes.
"Ron! I wouldn't of minded some warning, when did you know this?" She seemed pleased but stern aswell as if annoyed at the little time left.
"Erm…a few days maybe, I just remembered now…" he trailed off.
"Well ok, go and tidy your room up now young man, I'm afraid that since your father is using George and Fred's bedroom for god-knows what Hermione will have to stay in the camp bed in your room is that ok Ginny?"
Ginny winced, she'd done this every year with Hermione, sharing the same room for a few weeks/1 month before heading back to school but this year it was different, Ginny winced once again when she thought back to the times when she had shared with Hermione; the camp bed was pitiful and only 10 cm above the ground, so usually they ended up sharing Ginny's bed in top/tail fashion, this year Ginny thought this would be very uncomfortable.
"Mom, this year I could use the camp bed and Hermione could use my bed, since she's a guest" she thought putting up with the camp bed, however uncomfortable would be better than sharing a bed and possibly embarrassing herself for life.
"That'd be a wonderful idea if you don't mind Gin dear, now go and get it all ready".
Within 2 hours there was a huge puff in the fireplace and out came Hermione coughing and spluttering, and the time it was just Molly Weasley and Ginny in the front room, Hermione immediately looked at Ginny with a huge smile, then she greeted Molly Weasley before going to embrace Ginny with a hug.
"Ginny! I've missed you all summer, how have you been?" With a huge smile.
The hug made Ginny very uncomfortable as it was and before she had a chance to answer Ron came lumping down the stairs.
"Hermione? Hey!" He jogged over and greeted her.
"Heya Ron! I've missed you to, I spoke with Harry he should be arriving later on today aswell."
Molly Weasley sighed, "I love to know what's going on!" But after a second she seemed happy about his coming aswell.
"You'll be in the same room as Ginny again this year dear, I'm afraid Fred and George's room which you might've used is in use in itself by Authur."
Hermione smiled and said, "Yeah that's no problem!" Then added, "It can give me and Ginny a chance to catch up on stuff aswell."
"Wonderful! Well, dinners almost ready, I shall have to save some for Harry, Arthur is away for the weekend I'm afraid.!"
Ginny remained quiet and hardly spoke at all at the table, Hermione carried on trying to get her involved in the conversation but gave up after 10 minutes with a puzzled look as Ron and Hermione argued over what teachers they'd like to have the following year.
Meanwhile Ginny was feeling a bit sick and wanting to be on her own for a while, "May I be excused mom? I'm not feeling that well."
"Of course! I'll save some for you, have a lie down dear." With that Ginny trudged upstairs and lay down on her bed, she'd forgotten to set up the camp bed but she thought she could do that inabit, in less than two minutes she had fallen off to sleep.
Next time Ginny opened her eyes and saw it was pitch black, she also felt someone by her, 'Oh my god' she thought and she looked over the other side of the bed to see Hermione fast asleep – except this time it wasn't even top and tail, they were just lying side by side. Ginny knew to get out of bed she would invariabley have to wake Hermione up so she decided after a minute of staring at the beautiful figure of Hermione just to leave it 'One night can't be too bad sureley'.
She tried to position herself as far away from Hermione as was possible but within 10 minutes she heard Hermione groaning in her sleep and she shifted closer to Ginny, at this point Hermione's head was practically on Ginny's neck. It felt so good to Ginny, and she could smell the lavander and apricot smell of Hermione's hair, this was torture. For the first time, Ginny realised, she loved Hermione.
After half and hour of thinking, Hermione snuggled up beside her she fell asleep. She woke up at first light and realised now Hermione's arm was across her front, Ginny made some noise and after a moment Hermione began to groan and open her eyes.
Hermione saw her hand and flushed with embarrassment "Oh sorry Ginny!" She giggled, "that's embarrassing, how long have you been awake?"
"I only just woke up" Ginny lied.
"Well, it's only 6" Hermione said looking at her muggle watch, "let's have some more sleep, and Hermione flopped down again – this time a bit further away from Ginny and facing the other way. But Ginny couldn't sleep and hopped over Hermione in a few minutes to go down and have some breakfast.
It was two hours before anyone else woke up and Ginny was just sitting on the couch, she saw Hermione coming down the stairs.
"Good morning Ginny!" She said brightly, "How long have you been up, I just opened my eyes and realised you'd gotten out of bed, it's still only 8 you know…are you feeling better now?"
"Erm…yes thank you…I woke up about 20 minutes ago.." Ginny trailed off and looked away biting her bottom lip.
"Something wrong? You don't seem yourself."
"Nonono, it's fine, I'm just thinking"
"Thinking about what?" Hermione said, taking an interest brightly.
'About how beautiful you look in the morning' thought Ginny but lied, "About what teachers I might get next year." She knew this would get Hermione going again and it did, Ginny loved to see the 'thinking' face of Hermione which she used when she was trying to explain something to someone, but was scared she might stare too much, and was therefore a bit detached from what Hermione was saying.
Hermione realised this after ten minutes and came over and put her hand across Ginny's brow, the touch made Ginny jump and she bit her lip again, Hermione simply giggled for a moment and said, "You still have a bit of a temperature… I tell you what, you go upstairs back into bed and I'll bring up some toast and tea, this is still to early to wake up in the summer holidays!" Hermione said cheerfully with a bright grin, she was sure something was wrong with Ginny. In the previous year, Ginny had really taken shape, she was looking like a very attractive young woman indeed, a fact that was not lost on the boys of Hogwarts, she had also become much more confident, amassing a huge group of friends around her, so it puzzled Hermione to see Ginny back to like this again.
Ginny couldn't do anything else, so she nodded meekly and trudged back upstairs, she found it so hard to resist to touch, or kiss Hermione, never mind tell her how she felt, she knew she could no longer be herself for a while around Hermione, for being herself could make Hermione hate her forever. Ginny knew that Hermione would probably accept it if Ginny told her and not tell anyone else – she was a really good friend, but she was sure things would never be the same between them again.
After two minutes Hermione came into the room with a tray and dived under the covers with Ginny, Ginny couldn't help but wince but Hermione didn't notice, she was in a perfect mood, "The weather is truly beautiful this morning!"
'No where near as beautiful as you..' Ginny thought.
Hermione looked at Ginny seriously and said, "Thank you!" With a puzzled but clearly pleased look, "You look very nice too today!"
Ginny scoffed as she realised she had actually said it out loud and tried to cover it up with a smile, but it was clear Hermione was now a bit at a loss as to what Ginny was doing.
Hermione tried to make conversation with Ginny, usually within a minute or two the girls would be lost in a huge gossip conversation which might last for weeks, but today Ginny only attempted one word answers and constantly distanced herself from Hermione and looking down.
"You must need some more rest…" Hermione muttered, checking Ginny's temperature again…you don't seem that hot but you can never be sure…" Hermione was clearly thinking… but in a moment she was cheerey again and got up, "If you need anything at all just ask, I'm here all the time" she brightly left.
Ginny hated to see Hermione leave but she realised it was for the best, the less time she spent around Hermione, the less she would be tempted, and the less chance there would be she would blurt out something embarrassing.
For the next few days, Ginny spent a lot of time in bed, and when she wasn't she tried to avoid Hermione, spending time walking in the woods, Hermione had been asked to sleep on the couch for a few days by Molly but now Molly instructed Hermione to head back upstairs for sleep as Ginny said she was fine.
That night, Ginny was sitting on her bed when Hermione creeped into the room, Ginny didn't even notice, Hermione put her had on Ginny's bare shoulder and Ginny realised instantly who it was and spun around making an attempt at a smile.
"Ginny…" Hermione began sitting next to her.
'Oh god..' Ginny thought 'here comes the talk...' her mind raced as she thought of things she could say.
"I know you're not acting like yourself recently, and from what I gather, it's only been since I arrived…Is there a problem Ginny? You know you can ask me anything…" She paused, but Ginny didn't say anything, just stared at her shoes.
Hermione thought how cute Ginny looked like that but was determined to cheer her up.
"Come on Ginny…you know you can talk to me about anything…Am I the problem? I hate to see you like this. I can sleep on the couch aswell tonight if you want.." Hermione began.
"Nonono, it's not like that" Ginny began, but then stopped and looked at her shoes again.
"Is it….boy troubles?" Hermione said, ducking to try and see into Ginny's eyes, Ginny turned away and Hermione could tell Ginny was about to cry.
"I'm not going to go away Ginny, we need to get this sorted out now, has Dean been sending you letters again?"
"No!" Ginny snapped, "It's not him, it's no boy troubles or anything…it's difficult…" Ginny burst out crying then and Hermione winced going reflexively to comfort her.
"Okay, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to, I'll sleep on the couch again tonight…but tomorrow we can sort this out together okay?"
Ginny murmured something between a sob.
"Okay then!" Said Hermione trying to sound cheerey, and she pulled the blanket over Ginny. Next Hermione bent over Ginny, and although she had no idea why, kissed her on the cheek. Hermione was immediately self-conscious and went for the door. Ginny was trembling from the kiss, it had felt better than any snog from any boy she'd ever been with and she knew she'd die if she didn't tell Hermione how she felt.
Just as Hermione was pulling the door shut slowly leaving the room Ginny said;
"Wait, don't go" Ginny immediately bit her lip and returned to staring at the wall.
Hermione plodded over, still looking concerned, "Okay, I'll be right here" she said pulling herself into bed beside Ginny. She began to rub her back soothingly, it felt wonderful and Ginny couldn't complain.
Soon Ginny dropped off to sleep and woke up during the night, she felt parched and almost laughed with joy when she realised Hermione was behind her, she began to get a bit more comfortable with Hermione there, she then saw that Hermione had brought up some juice and some biscuits and left them beside Ginny, she smiled again, no boy she ever knew would do that for her she realised. But soon after that she became miserable again, seeing what she wanted, what she NEEDED, so close to her, and not being able to take it, was killing her and she realised she would have to tell Hermione the following day, she whimpered and flopped back into bed. This had seemingly wakened Hermione as she said.
"Shhhh shhhh Ginny it's ok, I'm still here, do you need anything?" Bending over behind her.
Ginny shook her head and buried her face in the pillow again. Hermione resumed her position again lying beside Ginny, still keeping her hand rubbing Ginny's back for a while.
Next thing Ginny knew she opened her eyes and saw it was early morning again, probably around 6am. She crept out of bed careful to not wake Hermione and she quickly had breakfast and left the house leaving a note behind.
'Gone out for a walk for a while, don't worry. Ginny x'
For the next few hours she walked around the forest surrounding the burrow, this was not unusual for her, she often did this and her parents didn't mind, but she felt like a coward as she knew that Hermione would know the real reason why she went out for the day. Ginny lay down and fell asleep for a while, she couldn't take her mind of Hermione, and after a few hours she opened her eyes again.
Ginny realised it was now getting late, around 7pm and realised soon her parents would have a right to be worried, so she hurried back and arrived around about 8pm. She saw some food on the table with a protective spell around it, she quickly cancelled the spell and eat the food quickly. Then she bounded up to her room, she thought everyone would probably be in the upstairs lounge playing card games or watching muggle movies so she shouted
"I'm back! And I'm going to bed now, thanks for dinner!" She knew she should really go and see them, and she knew she couldn't keep this up forever but she didn't want to do anything now, she heard a few shouts in reply but ignored them and closed the door to her room with a sigh of relief.
"Ginny? Ginny oh my gosh I was so worried where did you go?!" Came a voice behind her, Ginny winced and turned to see Hermione who leaped over and embraced Ginny, she weakly tried to return the embrace but it was clear there was no enthusiasm in it. Hermione stepped back to look at her.
"I just went for a walk is all…" offered Ginny meekly, but tonight Hermione was having none of it, and she sat Ginny down and said.
"Now…please…please Ginny tell me what's on your mind so I can help you? I'm not the only one that's worried you know, Ron was out looking for you for hours you know…" Ginny felt a pang of guilt and there was a knock on the door.
"Ginny? Ginny? Are you ok? We've been so worried" Came two voices – Harry and Ron.
"Don't worry, I'm with Ginny now she's fine, just going to bed now" Hermione shouted.
"Ok…." Came the reply from the men, they clearly wanted to see Ginny but they rationed there would be some 'girly' thing going on in there.
"Thank you" muttered Ginny weakly smiling at Hermione.
"Out with it Ginny…" Hermione said tentatively, "I'm here for you…."
"It's…..it's…." Began Ginny looking away.
"It's you." Ginny stated quietly, then looked in the opposite direction and was trembling.
"Me? What have I done wrong?" Hermione paused, "Oh?...oh….." Hermione processed what she had just heard.
It was then Ginny bolted crying, she opened the door and ran down the stairs and ran outside, not stopping for anything. It was pitch black but Ginny couldn't bare to wait for anything.
"Ginny, Ginny wait please" Hermione said desperately chasing Ginny, after a minute or two Ginny stopped in tears and Hermione put her arms around her.
"Ginny please….you should've said…let's get you home, we're going to talk about this." Hermione seemed confused but assured at the same time.
Ginny was still crying and she allowed herself to be controlled by Hermione, she had just completely embarrassed herself, and lost all the respect she had built up over the years, and she thought, lost possibly the best friend she'd ever had.
Hermione was clutching Ginny close to her as they walked back together, trying to reassure Ginny.
When they arrived back, Hermione guided Ginny up the stairs and back on to the bed.
"Come on" Hermione said gentley, "let's get you into bed"
Ginny realised Hermione hadn't actually said anything about it yet and was glad, she wanted to forget everything at least for tonight, but Hermione didn't let it go, as soon as both of them were lying in bed Hermione broke the silence.
Ginny was facing the wall so Hermione sat up and put her hand on Ginny's side.
"You know Ginny, for a long time, me and you have been best friends, but you know, I think we've gotten closer than that, and I think….i think…oh I don't know, when you said that…I never realised…Ginny, I think I really like you too.. " Ginny's eyes went wide as she listened to what Hermione was saying.
"What I'm trying to say is….well" she didn't have time to finish as Ginny spun around and with all the energy she had been bottling up for months and months pressed her lips against Hermione's.
Hermione went wide eye'd for an instant and Ginny was scared she would take back what she had just said, or she had done wrong. But after that first moment Hermione moved into the kiss, and it was like nothing Ginny had ever felt before, after a moment, the gap opened and both their tongues explored each others mouths. After 10 seconds they pulled apart panting and as they looked into each others eyes something leapt between them, and neither felt that they had to take it further that night to prove anything to each other, and Ginny knew that, it would be best to wait, and she lay down again with a huge smile on her face. Hermione wrapped her arms around Ginny and they fell asleep entangled with each other, in total bliss.
The feeling that Ginny woke with was one she had not known for a long time, happiness, she realised that Hermione was still asleep and she turned around, and simply stared at Hermione, within a few minutes Hermione roused and as she opened her eyes and looked at Ginny she giggled, and after a moment so did Ginny.
"I wish you had've said sooner…Ginny….I can't believe this is true.." Hermione said, with an ear-to-ear smile on her face. Their hands found each other and entangled, they continued to stare into each others eyes and they both moved forward to kiss each other, this time it was passionate and long, it ended up with Ginny being ontop of Hermione at which point Hermione giggled followed by Ginny. Ginny then leaned in to kiss Hermione at which point they both heard the click of the door as it began to open
"Good morning girls!" Came the voice of Arthur as he opened the door. The girls panicked and tried to separate in time. But Arthur saw them frantically moving around.
"You girls weren't having a fight or something were you? Come now.." Aurthur said looking unhappy.
"Dad!" Ginny said thinking, "No of course not we were playing a wrestling game…" she winced.
Luckily he accepted the answer and said, "Well I remember when I was back at Hogwarts we always used to play a game where we hid animals or play pranks in each others beds but I wouldn't think you girls would play silly games like that" then suddenly he smiled and said "well girls, we're heading out for the day to Diagon Alley, Ron and Harry are coming too and your mother told me to tell you to get ready, we're getting everything needed for school next week."
"Ok Mr.Weasley" said Hermione brightly, still unbelieving that he hadn't come to the obvious conclusion he should've. "We'll get ready right away". Ginny nodded and Arthur left the room.
Both of them let out a long sigh of relieve and began to laugh.
"Ok" muttered Hermione between laughs, "but seriously now…we have to be more careful." She paused "Erm Ginny…are you my girlfriend now?" She still seemed a bit nervous.
"Yes! Of course I am!" She beamed and Hermione looked relieved.
They quickly got ready and went downstairs where Ron and Harry were waiting. Ginny was now in a good mood and it was her first real chance to have a conversation with the two of them.
"Ginny! Hermione!" they both said.
"Hey Ginny, are you alright?" Harry asked, "we were worried yesterday – "
Ginny quickly said, "yeah sorry I did that, I lost track of time and I came back as soon as I realised, I won't do it again" Ginny said looking over at Hermione.
It was becoming clear that it was becoming the real confident Ginny again, which was good news for everyone. Although Ginny was unhappy because it still seemed that Ron was trying to get Hermione's attention, she also grimaced when she thought of how Ron might act when he found out about them.
When they arrived Hermione was keen to go off shopping with Ginny and likewise however Ron in particular seemed to want to just trial them, and Harry just followed them all. The day continued in this vain, the only opportunity that Hermione and Ginny had alone was when Ron and Harry were looking in the squidditch shop and they were able to get 20 minutes alone in a bar, they were trying to get close together but the barman stared at them so blankly for a while they separated and merely held hands under the table.
Ever since the night before, Ginny had had a permanent smile on her face, a fact which was not lost on the others.
"I don't know what's happened, but I don't really care, I love to see you so happy Ginny" said Ron.
"Yeah he's right" added Harry, "you're really good to be around like this"
Ginny blushed, and wondered
'Would they think the same if they knew why I was happy?'
The rest of the day was spent pleasantly shopping for school supplies as the following week they were set to return to Hogwarts. Ron and Harry couldn't wait, and they had a lengthy debate over which quidditch teams would do well this year and how much they were sure Gryffindor would win. Whereas Ginny and Hermione were dreading it, they knew that being in Hogwarts, they'd get practically no time at all to themselves but throughout the day they were happy to forget their troubles and look forward to the night ahead of them.
When night came, Ginny said;
"Well, if we can get a dormitory room together, that would be something at least…"
"Yeah, if I do become head girl" she said and Ginny grinned, "I might get a say in that sort of stuff…" Ginny giggled.
"Does that make me the Head Girls queen?" moving closer to Hermione.
"You certainly look like a queen" said Hermione with a grin.
They then kissed passionately only stopping for breath for the next few minutes before getting into bed together.
By unspoken consent they had decided not to have sex with one another, although both of them were dying to do it, they knew that they would have to wait for the right time.
When they were lying together, Ginny said;
"Do you think we can keep this a secret forever? I don't think I could live without seeing you for a week! Never mind all term."
Hermione looked a bit concerned about this but then cheerily said, "Well we can cross that bridge when we get to it, I know we can't keep it a secret forever…but…" she trailed off, and decided instead to kiss Ginny's neck.
Ginny savoured the touch and said, "You're right, night Hermione!"
"Goodnight beautiful" returned Hermione.
It was the best sleep both of them had had for as long as they could remember.
The next week passed quickly with the last few days packed with getting ready for the ddnew term, Ron continued to show interest in Hermione which worried Ginny a bit but after a while she got used to it.
The time came where they were all standing on platform 9 and 3 quarters with the Weasley parents bidding farewell to the children;
"Goodbye dears, I hope you have a wonderful year, and watch out for trouble." The kids rolled their eyes at this but Molly pulled Hermione over to the side.
"Hermione, I really appreciate you coming and cheering Ginny up over summer, would you mind watching out for her this year? I know you two are good friends and just make sure nothing bad happens" She seemed a bit embarrassed to be asking but was clearly concered.
"No problem Mrs. Weasley, we'll be just fine" Hermione said reassuringly.
"Ok" said Mrs Weasley, then said, "Well, off with you! Have a great year and take care of yourself. Make sure to owl me at least once a fortnight!" The kids laughed then boarded the train together.
On the train it was clear the thoughts were turning towards the year ahead, and after a while the conversation turned towards quidditch, in the 5th year Ginny had joined the quidditch team and had soon become their star chaser, Hermione realised she'd have to take an interest in quidditch if only for Ginny's sake.
"Our first match is versus Ravenclaw in two weeks, I'm guessing we'll have practise every day till then, they should've waited longer really." Said Harry
"I guess with all the disruptions last year they wanted to get us playing quidditch as soon as possible" explained Ron.
Hermione winced, she hoped quidditch wouldn't take up too much of Ginny's time, she didn't mind talking to Ginny about quidditch, and she loved to see the look on her face when she was talking about it but she had no real interest in the sport. She was however looking forward to having a legitimate reason to stare at Ginny for an hour or so. The train journey passed quickly and both Hermione and Ginny realised that getting time away from the group would be very difficult.
A lot of the talk was also about Harry and Samantha, Samantha was a girl from Beubaux school who had entered the previous year, the two had got very close and there was much speculation over them. This was somewhat of a relieve for Ginny who had been plagued by 'her crush' for years.
The first day was following in the normal routine – having the feast and watching the first years get sorted into houses. The speech from Dumbledore was quite subdued and it was clear he had something else on his mind. Meanwhile the talks around the Gryffindor table died down into separate groups and Ron said;
"Hey Hermione" he paused as Hermione looked up from her food, "erm, would you want to err….go to Hogsmede with me at the weekend?" He had gone red and Ginny was now looking down at her food, heart in her mouth.
"Erm, I can't, sorry Ron…" she paused and considered whether to even add an explanation on, Ron looked dejected.
"Yeah…I have to go now, I'm sorry" She glanced over at Ginny clearly guilty and quickly walked out of the main hall.
"I better unpack now aswell…" said Ginny. Harry and Ron just nodded. Ginny finally realised she could get some alone-time with Hermione. As it turned out, they had been placed in the same dormitory at the back of the Gryffindor tower. Hermione would also get her own room if she was elected head girl but she didn't have any intention of changing rooms mid-way through the year.
Ginny creeped into their room as Hermione was unpacking.
"Oh my god Ginny" said Hermione still blushing a bit, "Ron…oh man I wish he hadn't of asked that" she then grinned a bit and added, "there's only one Weasley I'm interested in."
"Oh…who's that?" Said Ginny devilishly.
"Do I really need to tell you?" Said Hermione blushing a bit, they both realised they had feelings for each other, and had confirmed it, but they were still a bit shy about showing feelings in this way.
"Tell me? Well…." Said Ginny looking down, "I'd prefer if you showed me…" both of them giggled as they tentatively moved forward into a kiss over Ginny's bed. This time it was long, and they enjoyed every moment, almost forgetting where they were then;
A knock on the door;
"Coming innnn" Lavender poked her head behind the door surveying the room, Hermione and Ginny were around about a foot from each other now inspecting their own beds, both looking flustered.
"Oh…I hope I'm not…" she checked and turned around for a second then turned back, "McGonagall wants to speak to you 'mione, quickly aswell." She then smiled brightly and closed the door again.
"Lavender…" bristled Hermione heading for the door, "I'll be back in half an hour, please wait up" Hermione said smiling broadly at Ginny.
"Byeee 'mione" replied Ginny before laying down on her bed.
After an hour and a half Ginny was getting very tired and she drifted off, the next thing she knew it was pitch black and she felt a warmth behind her, she almost laughed and felt Hermione's soft hands wrapped around her waist.
'If Ron saw this...' she thought, then dismissed the thought, she wanted to ignore telling Ron for as long as possible.
However, the following day, when Ginny was sitting in the common room alone after lunch Ron joined her;
"Hey Gin" he said weakly, he probably still hadn't recovered from the day before.
"Oh…hey Ron" she replied eyes down, usually she would seek an excuse at this point but she had just sat down and Ron knew she didn't have anything to do at this time of day.
"So… are you ready for the match tomorrow?" Ron said, almost automatically. Ginny continued to look down and murmured a reply so Ron continued, "Look…I know you and Hermione have been spending a lot of time together and I just want to know what's wrong…Hermione…she doesn't seem herself and…" he trailed off, looking glum.
"Look, Ron" she began, "I'm sure she doesn't want to hurt you or anything but…" at that moment Fred and George burst through the door and yelled;
"Ron – here now, Snape wants to see you five minutes ago" and with that Ron leaped away without a second glance and Ginny realised there must have been a missing piece of homework so she rolled her eyes – glad to be free of the awkward conversation and picked up a book.
The match finally arrived, it was a cool but clear autumn day and the stands were packed as it was to be the first quidditch match for almost over a year, Hermione and Ron were watching the game together in the Gryffindor stand.
The game began brightly and it was clear that it was going to be very evenly matched, Ginny scored twice which erupted the crowd but ravenclaw quickly replied moving 40-20 into the lead, however soon the crowds attention was caught by Cho and Harry spiralling down together before looping back up, next thing Hermione noticed was Cho smash into a Gryfinndor chaser and they spiralled down together lazily before crashing into the ground. The crowd went silent and a stone dropped in Hermione's stomach..
'Ginny…..?'
The next thing Ginny knew she opened her eyes and it was pitch black - nightime, she felt sore all over but she quickly realised nothing major was broken.
It all then began to come back to her…
'Cho….the snitch…ah my head!'
Next she noticed someone breathing, quietly snoring on the beside chair…
"Hermione..?!" she said louder than she meant to.
Hermione roused quickly and her eyes widened, "Ginny thank god!" she jumped forward to embrace Ginny but Ginny squeled in pain.
"Eek! Sorry" blushed Hermione, "How do you feel?"
"Like I've woken up and realised I forgot to do my potions homework" chuckled Ginny, "how long…" she trailed off.
Hermione knelt by the bed with her hands propping up her face staring at Ginny, she smiled sweetly.
"Three days…they expected you to be out all week!"
"I feel like I could sleep for another week" smiled Ginny.
"Listen, I'll get you something to drink and eat, you just relax" Ginny grinned appreciatively and closed her eyes.
After ten minutes Ginny broke the silence and said;
"'Mione..?"
"I thought you were asleep…what's up" replied Hermione.
"I feel awfully cold…" followed by a chuckle.
"Ginny !" Hissed Hermione trying not to laugh. "Ok ok but we can't do it for long! If we fall asleep and Madam Pomfree comes back…"
"Oh who cares I'll just say you were giving me a physical." With that Hermione laughed and slid into bed behind Ginny, wrapping her arms around her.
"When I saw Cho hit you…I was so scared…I…I…" she stuttered, "pfft, have a good sleep Gin" she said brightly and they trailed off into sleep.
They both work up as the first rays of sun were beginning to creep into the room, it was Hermione who opened her eyes first, she realised it was still very early because looking out of the window the sun was not yet fully in view.
She sat up sighing, not taking her eyes off Ginny, she reached for her hair and ran her fingers through it softly, it felt like nothing Hermione had ever felt and when she thought that this girl could be hers, the feeling she felt at that moment, she needed only to think back on all that day to put a smile on her face.
Ginny remained fast asleep and Hermione was content just to lie with her for a while, after around an hour Hermione heard a noise down the corridor so she leapt back onto the chair beside the bed and pretended to be asleep. Madam Pomfree entered and greeted Hermione who pretended to be rousing, then checked up on Ginny. It was Saturday so there was no imidiate need to wake Ginny up but Madam Pomfree did not approve of people sleeping in and 'wasting the day' even though they were sick.
"Ginny dear…wake up" She said putting her hand on Ginny's arm.
"Wha…." Trailed off Ginny squinting and yawning whilst looking around.
"How do you feel dear?" Continued the nurse.
"A lot better now…" she mumbled looking at Hermione with a grin but she said "I think I'm feeling ok now!" she sat up slowly.
"Good, good! You seem to be making a good recovery and I'm pleased, well as soon as you think you're ready you may leave, although do come back next week just for a routine check."
"Yes, thanks Madam Pomfree" Ginny said smiling weakly whilst rubbing her eyes.
"No problem" replied the nurse whilst leaving the room and she turned around at the door and said, "By the way now that you're awake I think the other girl – Cho Chang wants to see you, more than likely to apologise, she'll be through sometime today I should think, though I suggest you spend at least the rest of the day in bed before you think of moving." With that she left the single room and closed the door.
"How is Cho?" said Ginny to Hermione with a shock remembering that both of them had fallen.
"She was about the same as you, I think she broke her wrist but she recovered and left the wing yesterday, I'm so happy you're ok…I was so scared" said Hermione sitting back down on the chair and resting her legs on the bed.
"Hey…" teased Ginny, "you know this bed is a lot more comfy than this chair" both of them giggled and Hermione got up and began to move into the bed beside Ginny, "anyway, I guess everyone will be at Hogsmede now".
"That's true I 'spose" replied Hermione moving into a shy kiss which Ginny returned.
It was then Ginny saw out of the corner of her eye a girl standing in the door and just went wide eyed, Hermione noticed this and followed Ginny's gaze to see Cho standing in the door looking dumbstruck.
"Cho…" squeaked Hermione, Ginny was just stunned and speechless, clearly ruined.
"Ermmm…." Said Cho not sure what to do, "I'll come back later…" it was clear she was about to run.
"Wait!" said Hermione, "Cho….you don't understand it was…" she trailed off and Cho turned back looking down at the floor.
"You guys…I didn't errrr" she tried to hide her emotions and it seemed as though no-one was going to say anything.
"Cho" squeked Ginny, "are you ok?" she had gone beet-root red and was clearly trying not to cry.
"Yes! Yes I'm fine" said Cho glad of the change of topic, "but errr…how about you?"
Ginny ignored the question and stuttered, "Listen Cho…you can't tell anyone else, you don't understand…"
"Yes! Cho you can't tell anyone" added Hermione pleading.
"Of course!" replied Cho to the relief of the two girls, "it's not my business…" she then continued with a smile now, "so…you two…?"
Hermione tried to smile but was still clearly terrified, "Yeah…well….erm…you musn't tell anyone" still unconvinced about Cho.
"Don't worry! Don't worry" said Cho more relaxed now with more confidence which pleased Ginny and Hermione, "I won't I won't…listen, I guess you two want to be alone" she said with another smirk, "Ginny I came here to tell you how sorry I was….it was totally my fault and i'm happy you're not badly hurt" it was clear she was speaking trueley.
All Ginny could do was nod still unconvinced, she then muttered something and Cho exited.
"Mmmmrggh" groaned Ginny and buried her head in her hands, "stupidstupidstupid!!" she squealed.
"Ok…it's ok" soothed Hermione rubbing her back "Cho won't tell anyone, you know that, come on…"
"I know she won't" replied Ginny weakly, "but don't you understand? It's been 2 weeks and someone already knows about us…how long do you think it will be before someone less forgiving than Cho sees us…" it was right what she was saying and it clearly scared Hermione but she suddenly gained confidence and replied.
"Well, let them know then!"
"Herm…you mean, you'd be ok with everyone knowing?" Ginny looked up quizzically at Hermione.
"It might be hard but…think about it Ginny, once everyone knows we won't have to sneak around like this….it's terrible not kissing you in the common room after class" Ginny burst out giggling.
"Herm…I never knew you were this serious, I would be happy for it…I…I…I love you" she whispered. Flushing red.
"Pardon?" said Hermione, partly to see if she wasn't dreaming and partly to confirm what she just thought she heard.
"I…er….you heard me!" Scoffed Ginny breaking a grin.
"Gin…I love you too of course!" They moved closer staring at one another and then kissed, both their tongues exploring each others mouths. After a minute they broke of the contact with ear-to-ear grins and Hermione said.
"So…how do you think we should tell….you know"
"Let's not think about that right now…I don't want to imagine Ron's look…or what he might do" replied Ginny scowling at the thought of her brother.
Hermione frowned again sick to be reminded of that, "You're right…we need to plan it out right…"
From then moving on through the term Hermione and Ginny kept their meetings secret and continued to discuss what they could do. There were many close calls including nearly being caught by Ron and Harry in the library, luckily the second they realised the boys were coming round the corner both of them ducked behind a stack of books missing the boys.
The amount of time which they were spending with each other was not however lost on Ron and Harry and one day at breakfast mid-november confronted Hermione about it, being that Ginny was still revising for her test.
"Hey Herm" began Ron, Hermione scowled inwardly, firstly because she hated it when anyone used that nickname but Ginny, and secondly because she had an inkling of what the conversation might contain but she smiled brightly looking up from her food at the boys.
"What's going on? You hardly spend any time with us anymore, just Ginny, I know you two are practically best mates now but we're your friends too!" Ron felt slightly self-consious as usually it was him receiving the lecture rather than giving it but it was clear Harry had given him the go ahead.
"He's right Herm," continued Harry, "you don't even come to Hogsmede with us now" Hermione knew that they were right, she wasn't spending much time with them at all, but schoolwork and Ginny took up almost all of her time.
"I know…" she sighed "and I'm sorry, I have so much work and the free time I do get…well I dunno" she blushed slightly thinking of what she did in her free time, "I dunno…I just end up talking with Ginny or helping her out with work." She knew it was a feeble excuse and she should try harder to make time for them but she was too lazy.
"Alright…" replied Harry unconvinced, "we're just worried you know…we don't see any of you"
"It's ok…thanks" smiled Hermione.
"What do you do with Ginny anyway?" asked Ron munching on some toast.
"You know…some work, just talking, girl stuff" replied Hermione looking down and playing with her hair.
Christmas came quickly and all of the kids including Hermione and Harry were invited back to the burrow for Christmas, although Hermione's parents had told Hermione she could come back for New Year if she wanted to.
Private time was rare for Ginny and Hermione as everyone spent most of the days inside together, however they did share a room again, of which only bed was used.
Christmas passed and gifts were exchanged and Hermione decided to stay at the burrow for New Year, there was to be a big New Year party with fireworks, a concept which Mr.Weasley found intriguing.