Title: Forbidden Love

Rating: T

Pairings: Hr/R; Hr/G; possible H/D

Summary: Hermione is dating Ron, but when Ron starts acting a bit differently, she receives comfort from the last person that she would expect. Her world in thrown in turmoil as Hermione struggles to come to terms with something she may have been denying for her whole life.

Other Notes: This is FEMSLASH, don't like, don't read, and don't waste your time flaming. Possible SLASH in the future, but I'm not sure yet. No lemons unless I feel that it's crucial to move the story forward. Updates may take a while, but I will try to update at least once every week or two, if there's a demand. If no one responds, I'll assume that no one wants to read it, so I probably won't update. The moral of the story: review if you like it. And if you don't, go read something else.

Chapter 1

"Hermione!" Ron said, irritated, "Are you listening to a word I've been saying?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry Ron, I don't know where I've been lately." They were seated on the good couches in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room.

Ron huffed grumpily and looked the other way. Internally sighing, Hermione laced fingers with her boyfriend. Sometimes Ron's insecurities became a bit irksome. She placed a kiss next to his earlobe and whispered in his ear, "You know no one could replace you. I'm just thinking about homework."

Ron jerked away from her and said tensely, "Of course it's homework, the thing you prize above life itself."

"Ronald, don't be like that."

"Oh, so it's Ronald now? Just go away, I'm sick of looking at you."

Hermione rose slowly from the couch, trying to contain the tears that were threatening to spill out of her already-reddening eyes. She retained her slow pace until she was halfway up the stairs to her dormitory and out of sight. She bolted the rest of the distance to her dormitory, and collapsed on her four-poster bed. Her relationship with Ron had been rocky from the start, but he had never looked at her with such revulsion on his features. In all actuality, Hermione had never been truly interested in anyone in any sense besides purely educational. (She was particularly intrigued by Barnabas the Barmy, but seeing as he was dead, she knew it didn't count.) So, when Ron had asked her out, she agreed based on the idea that maybe she could develop feelings for him and finally understand why girls seemed to fawn over boys. But, so far though they had many lovely moments, he needed constant reassuring to keep his ego up.

Stop this silly crying immediately, she scolded herself. She held her breath in an attempt to halt the sobs that were shaking her body. She regained her self-control after a minute, and looked around the room. Her heart stopped when she saw a startled-looking redhead in the doorway. She calmed down as soon as she realized that it was Ginny, not Ron.

"What do you want?" Hermione said briskly, trying to hide the fact that she had just been crying and hoping against hope that Ginny had not seen it.

"I- um, I wanted he-help with Potions." Ginny stammered. She paused to regain control "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in on anything."

"Well, that's good, because you didn't" Hermione said, still clinging to the insane notion that Ginny had not just witnessed her in one of her few weak moments.

"Hermione," Ginny said gently, moving closer and sitting on the edge of Hermione's bed "What's wrong?"

Please don't say that, Hermione begged, but the damage had been done. Whenever someone asked her what was wrong, or if she was okay, or any variation thereof, it restarted the waterworks. She turned her face away from Ginny so that she couldn't see the tears now streaming freely down her cheeks.

"Nothing," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice from wavering, "I have allergies." Hermione didn't need to look at her to know that Ginny didn't buy it for a second.

Ginny said nothing and placed a comforting hand on Hermione's arm. Hermione stiffened, but Ginny kept going. She pulled the unwilling girl into an embrace and held on until she relaxed in her arms and just cried unreservedly.

Hermione didn't know what to feel, being comforted was alien to her. She had always been so in-control. Even at home, she and her parents rarely had any contact. She decided to just go with it, since she really needed it anyway. Ginny placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and Hermione felt a blush spread through her face. I wish Ron would kiss me with that tenderness, she thought, but immediately regretted it because it made her start crying again. Ginny wiped a fat tear threatening to fall out of Hermione's eye. Then, without knowing precisely how it had happened or why, Ginny lightly brushed Hermione's lips with her own. There was a static charge between them, and both pairs of eyes fluttered open, not being quite sure when they were closed.

Ginny stood up, "I should go," she said, heading for the door, "And I'm really sorry." And then she was gone.

Hermione carefully touched her lips, still in shock. She slowly stood up and began walking aimlessly.

Well, she thought, this is unexpected. It wasn't like she was opposed to the idea of homosexuality, but she had never had any encounters with it before. And she had never even considered the possibly that she might be… well, not exactly straight. And it didn't seem as though Ginny had thought about all that much either. This would explain a lot, she thought as she looked back on previous moments in her life that should have tipped her off. Like whenever Ginny would smile in greeting and Hermione's heart started beating more quickly and her breathing became shallow. She had always blamed the palpitations on magic residue stimulating her respiratory system. Or, when she had to go to a muggle school, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the other girls when changing for P.E. She had told herself that she was merely getting a better understanding of the female anatomy, in an entirely edifying sense.

Hermione looked up when her feet stopped and realized that she was standing in front of the library. When in doubt, research, she thought before heading in.