Edit (17/6): I'm taking anotherboarduser's good advice so I've edited this chapter to build the background of my story up more.
A/N: Started a new fic. This is a Harry/Hermione/Ginny love triangle (not threesome) told from Ginny's point of view for most of the story. This first chapter just sets the scene for the rest of the fic. I hope you enjoy. Review and give feedback. And check out my other fics. And remember, I do not own Harry Potter.
Summary: Harry and Hermione are engaged (starts as Harmione pairing) and Ginny decides that it's time to give up her 10-year crush on the one and only Harry Potter. When she finally found someone perfect for her, Harry starts to show an interest and she realizes she can never truly get over Harry (Hinny moments). But in the end, Harry regrets betraying Hermione and the pairing will go back to Harmione.
Things to note: Ginny has never dated Michael, Dean or Harry. She had been waiting all this time for Harry to notice her.
Ginny eyed the couple as they laughed over their wine. Her friend's eyes sparkled as she smiled widely at the man on her left. Her mouth was rimmed with the perfect shade of red lipstick to compliment her skin tone. She really did have perfect white teeth after she had gotten them fixed. The man gave her small smile in return as he rubbed his thumb over the knuckles of her hand in his. Ginny could throw up from the amount of love directed at the girl.
Ginny took a deep breath as she sat among her family at the restaurant. They all decided to have a night out for a second celebration of Hermione and Harry's engagement, since the first one had been an impromptu and hastily put together by her mother at the Burrow. She looked back at the couple, ensuring that her feelings were hidden by the laughing mask she wore at the man's light-hearted joke. It wouldn't bode well to be jealous of your best friend's engagement.
She had loved the man who sat before her ever since she had heard of his name. He was the boy-who-lived, the only one to survive the dread killing curse. She had always fantasized what he would be like, how he would sound, how he would act. He was the hero of all her dreams and she would wake up smiling every morning.
Then her closest brother was about to go to Hogwarts and she saw her hero on the platform and he was... normal. Utterly normal. Awkward, lanky and shy. It shattered her image of him but she still loved him. That infatuation didn't just disappear because of his looks. The hero she loved still lived on in her mind.
In her first year, after she had been a bumbling, blushing idiot since the summer, he had literally become her knight in shining armour. She had been swayed and seduced by a smooth-talking diary, who turned out to be demonic monster. And there was Harry, her saviour. And her feelings grew stronger.
Over the years, she heard of his heroic tales and adventures, through friends and her brothers. He hung out with his best friends, Hermione Granger and her brother, Ron Weasley, which brought him around the Burrow every summer. She was happy to have him close. She would try to be close to him whenever she could and admired him from afar when she couldn't. He grew into his looks and soon he was more dashing and handsome as ever, his low voice putting her under his spell. But he never noticed her. She was just Ron's little sister, she was everyone's little sister.
She had grown to like Hermione, happily welcoming another girl around the Burrow and soon they became fast friends. They told each other everything and anything: makeup, clothes, hair and crushes. She had shared her deep crush on Harry and Hermione had shared hers on Ron, and though they disagreed with one another, they respected the other's preferences.
Soon she got caught up in Harry's adventures and she was there by his side. At the Department of Mysteries, she had gone with him and had proven that she was more than just the Weasley girl. She showed him that she was a force to be reckoned with in both bravery and ability. She was elated when he had thanked her, she shared his pain when Sirius died and she shared his anger at the world for the cards he was dealt.
He started hanging around her more and she felt like now she mattered to him. He now saw that she was there and not just in the background. They had talked about any and everything and there had been harmless flirting, but nothing more. Ginny had become hopeful throughout the year that he would finally see her in the way she wanted, he would return her feelings. She had never told him about her crush though. She could never get the nerve and if she even got an ounce of bravery, the blushing and bumbling would resurface again.
However after Dumbledore died, Harry had begun his quest and left her behind. She wanted to go along, she begged him to include her, she even tried sneaking up behind him, but he turned her back home. He didn't want his 'sister' to get hurt. That stung. She thought she was growing out of the 'sister' title but no, he still didn't see her as anything more. So she stayed back, she waited and she fought from the inside. She would show him what his 'sister' could do. She thought she still had a chance.
But that changed after the war. Harry returned and looked at Hermione with a newfound love, stronger than that between friends. Living together for a year on the run and putting the utmost trust in her had made him see her in a new light. Ginny had seen it in his eyes but chose to ignore it, hoped she was seeing incorrectly.
They were all at the Burrow when Harry entered Ginny and Hermione's room one night after the end of the war. His eyes focused on her, and the love was just pouring from them. He borrowed Hermione for a second and they walked out. A few mintues later, Hermione shared her joy at Harry asking her out. Ginny would not cry, Ginny would not bring up how much Hermione had been against the idea of ever liking Harry, of liking her 'brother'. Ginny would congratulate her friend. She would tell her how much Harry seemed to love. She would tell her to go for it.
Now, 2 years later, they were engaged. They laughed again, the wine swished around in Hermione's glass. She asked Ginny a question.
"What?" Ginny asked, pulled out of her thoughts.
Hermione smiled sweetly, "I was asking if you'd help me with the planning this week if you not too busy with Quidditch practice."
Ginny plastered a smile on her faces which crinkled her eyes. She did that whenever she was forced to be happy with a bad situation. "I would love to Hermione. I'm free on Tuesday."
Hermione smiled, "Thank you, Ginny."
She held her hand out in front of her, in front of everyone at the table. The light glinted of the small, exquisite diamond on her ring. Ginny knew Harry was well-off, he could have bought the biggest diamond he could find, but he knew Hermione's desires. He knew she would like something small. Damn him for knowing so much about her.
Hermione said dreamily, "I can't believe I'll be marrying the man of my dreams within the next three months." She leaned over and kissed his lips quickly. Ginny spat up in wine glass and everyone looked at her strangely. She hit her chest forcefully and unladylike before choking out, "Sorry."
After the dinner, Ginny headed back to the Burrow with her parents. She was the last child left in the lonely house. All her brothers had moved out, even Ron got a flat with his girlfriend, Lavender. Saying a quick goodnight to her parents, she ran up to her room to get ready for bed.
Settling up in her bed, she stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't calm the green-eyed monster sitting on her chest. Even know, her eyes glared upwards, the images of Harry and Hermione at the dinner replaying in her mind. They could have kept their affection at minimum. We were in a public place for crying out loud. She wished it had been her in Hermione's place, her hand in Harry's, his ring on her finger and her lips on his.
She scowled and turned onto her side to face her night table. There was a picture taken during the summer before her fifth year. She and Harry were smiling at the camera, his arm draped casually over her shoulders. Ginny could even make out the slight blush on her cheeks. She was so excited when he touched her. But on Harry's other side was Hermione. And now that she studied the picture, she saw his hand on her small waist and picture-Harry sneaking small glances at the brown-haired girl. Could he have had a crush on her from even then? How had Ginny not seen it before?
Ginny reached out and turned the picture face down. She shut her eyes tightly and fought off the thoughts and feelings that threatened to surface. She cleared her mind and laid their in the dark. She had to wake up early tomorrow for Quidditch practice.