This just came to me, just something that I need to get out in Harry Potter form. This is HBP non-compliant.
The fake smiles were killing her slowly, though she was the one who was offering them. It was almost painful to laugh and joke with everyone else now. It hurt to grin in her usual manner, though no one seemed to see through her thin, ill-conceived facade.
It felt as though she had liked him forever. No, it was more than like...but less than love. There was not enough there, enough history, to be love. He had never shown her much favor, though they were on friendly terms. Basically he was a friend of a friend of a friend, it was that kind of relationship. She was able to speak to him now, joke with him and make fun of both Hermione and Ron. She was a buddy to him, not a girlfriend, not someone to ultimately fall in love with.
She laughed harshly as Ron tripped over his own massive feet and collided into Hermione's back. Harry nudged her and whispered into her ear, "He should get clown shoes for those feet." She giggled, not knowing what a clown was but knowing that this was the reaction that was expected.
He draped his arm casually over his girlfriend as she spoke to him over the clamor, "I reckon that Ron'll never grow a pair and ask her out." Ginny's manner was guarded, and Harry nodded wisely. It was evident that his girlfriend, Ashley, did not care about their interaction; she knew that Ginny was no threat.
Ginny noticed the arm and winced slightly. "You two look cute together. At least Harry had the stones to ask you out, eh?" Ashley laughed slightly, a tinkling and true laugh, flipping her mane of gorgeous wavy blond hair over her shoulder.
"Sometimes I think he Imperiused me into it," she teased gently, turning her dark eyes to her boyfriend lovingly.
Harry shrugged off the accusation good-naturedly before correcting it, "No, I got Hermione to brew up a batch of Amortentia and slipped it into this poor, innocent woman's pumpkin juice." He faked a look of sorrow before breaking out into a smirk.
"It does seem a bit more reasonable," Ginny agreed. "Her personality's the same, now she's just been tricked into actually liking you Harry." She could feel Justin Finch-Fletchy smiling at her. She knew that he had feelings harbored for her, and he was not bad looking by any means, but he was no Harry...
"Ah, so you're taking his side, now?" Ashley faked offense as Harry brushed a tendril of hair off of her face. "Always obsessed with my hair, aren't you?" she teased, laying a hand on the top of his hair and mussing it up a bit. "How's that?" She looked to Ginny for an opinion.
She shrugged slightly. "No worse than usual, really," She commented, observing his disheveled appearance lightly.
Ginny could never talk badly about Ashley in good spirit. She was a nice girl, kind, and beautiful, Harry's...it was the last part that truly got her. The fact that Ashley had him had what she could never have.
It was not a crush anymore, there was a bit more to it than that...but it certainly wasn't love. She put on a good mask, smiling and laughing jovially, never ceasing in her impressions of Ron, standing loyally by Harry's side, who was now alongside Ashley.
She was not even considered to be a third wheel. Just Ginny. Just a friend. Just...just. She hated how she relied on him to define her. How she was never sure who she was until she was talking with him, listening to him. She felt pathetic; she was better than this...but she put on a good show. Never showed her feelings for him, though perhaps he noticed how her gaze lingered, how her friendly embrace seemed tighter than usual, how she dismissed any possible suitor.
She hated being this way, but she could not help but be near him, even if they were just friends. She hated how she needed to justify her feelings, all of the fantasies about him breaking down and admitting his feelings for her; hoping that he would kiss her, just once, hold her close to him. But these dreams were just that, dreams. She knew that they would never come true, she would always be "just a friend: Ginny the reliable." Or else Ginny the entirely sexless shoulder to cry on. Ginny...one of the guys, only missing a major appendage...
She knew that Harry didn't torture her on purpose, he never lead her on. He showed his true feelings for her, and he loved her. Just not in the desired way.
"How long have the two of you been going out, anyway?" she asked nonchalantly, looking to Ashley for the answer.
She smiled bashfully before replying, "Less than a month." She admitted, "Hermione introduced us." Ginny nodded, signifying that she had heard her.
"Remind me to kill Hermione when the opportunity comes by," Ginny thought to herself, making a mental note.
"Are you and that Thomas boy going out?" Ashley asked innocently.
Ginny shook her head. "No, Dean and I just split a few weeks ago." The memory was not painful; she liked Dean and he was one hell of a kisser, but she never loved him, exactly.
"Yeah, he's still moping around. Ginny's a little vixen." He playfully nudged her and, for a single instant, Ashley's smile flickered. Ginny was nearly positive that she had simply imagined it because in a moment it was back full force, her two rows of glistening white teeth nearly blinding her.
"We got into a lot of rows. He treated me like a baby," she pouted comically, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and allowing her red hair to fall to her face. Out of habit Harry reached out and brushed it behind her ears.
All outside noise in the common room seemed to vanish and all that Ginny was aware of was the piercing stare she was receiving from Ashley, and Harry's dumbfounded silence. Ginny faked a yawn and made hasty excuse to remove herself from the uncomfortable situation before rushing up to her dormitory with Harry's touch burning on her face.
"We're just friends!" she called into her pillow, and not even she believed it anymore.
This is based on a true-ish story, I hope y'all liked
it! THANK YOU SO MUCH, JADEDNIHILIST, MY EXCELLENT BETA! and im posting chapter numero uno of the third installment of Seeing What Should Not Be Seen in approximately five minutes. took me two hours, but i did it! i revised it and am going to post it as-is, just this chapter because i want to get it out now.