AN: This started out as Hermione/Tonks, but I couldn't write it the way I wanted. Nothing came out right. Then it turned into Hermione/Ginny, so I hope you all don't mind a bit more of them.Set after Hermione finished her final year after going back, which means Ginny just finished her final year as well.
Disclaimer: I don't own these people.
"Hermione, listen to me, would you! I'm just not so sure that going to visit him would be a good idea!" Harry said, trying to reason with his best friend. He had a bad feeling about Seamus Finnigan ever since Hermione had started dating him, and perhaps even during school. The boy tended to tease and harass other students, and he didn't strike Harry as a good boyfriend for Hermione or any other girl.
"Harry, it will only take a few moments. I just want to go see my boyfriend and say hello to him. I promise you. I'm apparating there and I'll be back before you know it" Hermione said, grinning.
Harry sighed loudly but nodded his head.
Hermione kissed his cheek and spun on the spot. With a loud pop, she was gone.
Harry stared at the spot where she had just been.
"This will not end well"
Hermione arrived in front of the Finnigan house, where Seamus still lived with his mother, and walked up to the front door, knocking softly. The door opened and Mrs. Finnigan smiled at her.
"Hermione! It's so nice to see you again!" Mrs. Finnigan yelled.
"You too, Mrs. Finnigan. Is Seamus home?" Hermione asked, smiling at the older woman.
Mrs. Finnigan nodded her head and pointed towards the stairs. Hermione thanked her quietly and made her way up the stairs. Once she found Seamus' room, she thought about knocking, but changed her mind fairly quickly.
"I'll surprise him" she whispered to herself.
She smiled and opened the door.
Seamus was sitting on his bed, his arms wrapped around a blonde girl as they snogged.
They broke apart when the door opened. Seamus stood up quickly, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he tried to find something to say.
"Don't even try it, Seamus! You are such a moronic little git, you know that? We were away from each other for a week since my school term ended, and you have to go and find yourself another girl for a nice snog?" Hermione screamed.
Seamus glared at her.
"I had to find a girl who would shag me, is what I had to bloody do" he growled.
Hermione narrowed her eyes and shoved him backwards roughly.
He fell backwards to the floor, and Hermione turned, leaving the room and racing down the stairs.
Mrs. Finnigan met her at the bottom of the stairs, a worried look on her face.
"Hermione, dear. Are you alright? What happend?" she asked, trying to get a look at Hermione's face. Hermione sniffled loudly and wiped at her eyes, trying to stop herself from crying. Mrs. Finnigan frowned and looked at the top of the stairs, where Seamus was standing.
"C-can you t-take me h-home?" Hermione asked, afraid that she would splinch herself is she tried to leave herself.
Mrs. Finnigan nodded and gripped Hermione's arm tightly, and with a pop, they were both gone, and Seamus was left on his own on the top of the stairs.
For the rest of the week, Hermione locked herself in Ginny's room, only opening the door when she knew Ginny wanted to come to bed. She kept to herself even when Ginny was in the room with her, remaining quiet and curled up underneath a blanket.
"I told her not to go over there" Harry whispered harshly at breakfast one morning, after Ginny came back down with the plate of food Hermione refused to eat.
Ron shook his head.
"If I ever see Finnigan again, I'll murder him myself. How can anyone cheat on Hermione? He had a smart, attractive girl, and he threw her to the side" he said, still shaking his head. He stopped for a moment, shoving some of his breakfast into his mouth, before opening his mouth to talk again.
"It's alright, Ron. Keep it to yourself" Harry said, patting Ron's hand.
Ron blushed a furious shade of red.
"Oi! Ever since you two started snogging, you've been far too cute for my taste" Ginny said, sitting down next to Harry and staring at Hermione's plate of food. Harry looked thoughtful for a minute, before a bright smile lit up his face.
"Oh, Merlin. He's got a plan" Ginny said.
Harry grinned.
"We need a way to cheer Hermione up, and a way for you to tell her that your in love with her" he said. "Who said we need a way for that to happen? I'd much prefer if she never knew that I was in love with her, thank you!" Ginny cut in.
"So, what if we got you to take her on a date? A honest date that she would love. Seamus never took her on one, as far as I can remember, and you can!" Harry yelled.
"Harry, I can't exactly afford a perfect date night" Ginny said, shaking her head.
Harry smirked.
"I can"
Ron, Draco and Luna charged into Ginny's bedroom, and Draco smiled as he pulled the blanket off of Hermione.
She rolled over and groaned.
"What is Malfoy doing here?" she yelled at Ron.
Luna frowned.
"He is my boyfriend now, Hermione. You can call him Draco. It won't destroy you" she said.
Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"What do you lot want? I'm try to wallow" she said, rolling back over. Ron grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards them again, a small smile on his face. "Get out of bed, and get dressed. Do your hair, something comfortable to wear, but that still looks presentable" he ordered.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione screamed.
Ron rolled his eyes.
"Just get it done. Your surprise is waiting for you downstairs" he said, before the three of them turned and left the toom.
Hermione sighed loudly and sat up.
She thought about it for a moment, then stood and tried to find something that described what Ron wanted her to wear.
Hopefully her surprise wasn't a fire-breathing dragon that he expected her to ride.
One time was enough.
Hermione walked down the stairs slowly, and to her surprise, saw Ginny standing at the bottom with Harry. The boy was trying to fix her hair, and Hermione watched, quite amused, as Ginny smacked him on the side of the head.
"How nice" she commented, grinning.
Ginny spun quickly and Harry's eyes widened.
He waved and raced off.
"Would you mind telling me just what is going on here? I understand that this is my surprise, but I'm still a bit fuzzy on what exactly my surprise is" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow. Ginny cleared her throat and fixed the bottom of her shit quickly.
"I'm here, to take you out on a real date. I've heard from some good sources that you have never been on one, so I thought I'd provide the service for you" she said, smiling hopefully, holding out her hand.
Hermione smiled hesitantly.
"Who better for the best date then your best friend?" Ginny asked, smiling brightly. Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but the hopeful look in Ginny's eyes stopped her in her tracks, and she nodded her head.
"Alright, you've got yourself a date, then" she agreed, taking Ginny's hand.
The younger girl turned a furious shade of red and Hermione smiled, allowing her friend to lead her outside and over the hill behind the Weasley's house.
"You know, you could at least tell me where we're going?" Hermione asked.
Ginny grinned.
"We're going to have a nice old fashioned picnic. Just like you used to say you would like to have on your first date when we were younger" she said. Hermione searched her mind for when she might have said such a thing, and realized that it had been the summer before her fourth year.
"Ginny, that was ages ago. You remember that?" Hermione asked.
Ginny nodded her head, but didn't respond as she found what she was looking for. A blanket was set up on the ground right on the other side of the hill.
"There isn't a lot of food, or anything like that, but it's the best I could do, you know" Ginny explained, blushing again. Even with the small amount of food, Hermione found it to be perfect, and a bright smile spread across her face.
She launched herself at Ginny and hugged her tightly.
Ginny smiled and hugged back, thinking that maybe this wasn't such bad idea after all.
"I can not believe you brought grapes" Hermione said, grinning. Ginny shrugged her shoulders, popping one into her mouth.
"I remember you saying sometime that you liked them, so I decided they would be a good snack" she said, smiling at Hermione.
Hermione bit her lip.
Ginny sighed.
"Alright, I suppose it had to come up sometime today. It will be alright, Hermione. Seamus isn't going to be the only bloke who wants to date you" she said.
Hermione looked up.
"No, that's not it. As much as that was bothering me, that's not it. I can't figure out how you remember small things I mentioned in passing or during times I stayed at your house, but Seamus couldn't even remember my birthday" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"September 19th" Ginny said, almost automatically.
Hermione smiled.
"That's what I mean, you know more about me then anyone else, even Harry and Ron. And you went through all this trouble to make sure I felt better after this entire mess with Seamus. Why would you take all this time just to get me out of a bad mood?" she asked.
Ginny gulped down her grape.
"Now or never, Ginny" she whispered to herself.
Hermione raised an eyebrow again and silently wondered if the younger girl had gone mental on her all of a sudden.
"Hermione, the thing about it is, you don't see how amazing you are. You're smart, funny, beautiful, and everything anyone could have ever wanted. But you let Seamus treat you that way. You knew he was a bloody idiot with girls, you were warned by almost everyone! And you still decided it was a smart idea to date the moron and trust him! There are far better people out there for you. People who will treat you right and love you for who you are" Ginny said, breathing deeply.
"Oh, that's it, is it? It's supposed to be that easy? To rush out and find someone again? I'd like to know who's so fantastic for me!" Hermione yelled.
Ginny groaned loudly and threw herself backwards onto the grass.
"Me" she whispered.
Hermione thought she heard wrong.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked quietly.
"Me, alright! I'm better for you! I've fancied you since the summer before your fourth year when we spent all night talking in that tent! You haven't noticed a thing because you're too busy with school, and last year it was Seamus! I didn't see you at all last year! Just because you both came back to school to finish your seventh years, does not mean you had to spend every moment together!" Ginny yelled, sitting up.
Hermione stared at her in shock.
"Ginny-" she started.
"It's perfectly alright, Hermione. I know you don't feel that way about me. Excuse me" Ginny said, standing up. She spun on the spot, and with a loud pop, disappeared.
Hermione stared at the spot in shock.
"I didn't even know she had her licence to apparate yet" she whispered.
Frustrated with herself, she stood and raced back over the hill, hoping Ginny had gone home.
"What do you mean she's not here?" Hermione yelled.
Ron and Harry cringed backwards, while Draco and Luna sat on the couch. Draco snickered quietly.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Hermione growled.
Draco closed his mouth and Luna patted his shoulder, laying her head down on it. He blushed and Ron laughed openly.
"Ron, I'll hex you! Do you know where she went?" Hermione screamed.
"No! Bloody hell, if I knew I'd tell you just to save the screaming" Ron responded, rubbing his ear.
Hermione turned on Harry.
"What about you?" she growled.
Harry's eyes went wide and he shook his head.
"Check the joke shop, with George in his apartment above it. She likes to spend time there" Luna offered quietly. Hermione's face lit up and she spun around, kissing Luna on the cheek and shouting a thank you before apparating away.
Draco sighed.
"She better not touch my girlfriend again" he muttered.
"Oh, shove it, Malfoy. The only reason you're here is because you're not as stuck up as you were during the war, and because Luna's our friend, no matter what ferret she decides to date" Ron said.
Draco glared and Ron smirked, but Harry stared at the place Hermione was just in, hoping everything would work out.
Geroge smiled at Hermione when she walked into the joke shop.
"Hello, Hermione. My guess would be you're looking for Ginny. She's right upstairs, but I'm not supposed to tell you that, so make her think you figured it out all on your own" he said, before a costumer came in and he nodded at her and left.
Hermione opened the door that led to the apartment above the joke shop and closed it behind her, climbing the stairs.
The whole way up, she praticed what she was going to say to Ginny,
She didn't fancy Ginny.
Did she?
She never got along well with any of the boys she had dated, granted it was only Viktor, Ron, for about a month and a half, and then Seamus. Boys had never appealed to her. She prefered to spend her time with Ginny, talking about whatever things happened to come into their minds at that moment.
The more she thought about it, besides the year where Seamus demanded most of her time, almost all of her time outside of school, and most of it inside of school, besides when she was helping Harry and Ron with school work or Harry with Voldemort, had been spent with Ginny Weasley, and she couldn't have been happier.
Could she picture herself with Ginny?
Yes, of course she could.
Ginny was her best friend in the world. The person she could trust with anything and everything, and the one who didn't even have to work to make her smile. She could imagine her and Ginny on many more dates like the one they had gone on today, and she could imagine them holding hands, snogging, and doing all the other things that couples would do.
Hermione stopped at the top of the stairs, blinking a few times slowly.
She fancied Ginny Weasley.
"How is it I never saw that before?" she asked herself quietly.
She shook her head before walking into the appartment.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked from the couch. Her face was red from crying, and from what Hermione could tell, she wasn't quite done yet.
"Ginny, I'm sorry for not saying anything when you told me you fancied me, honestly, I just wasn't sure what to say! I've been thinking about it, and-" Hermione started, but Ginny cut her off.
"Let me guess. You'd love to stay friends but there's no chance of us dating in the future. Fantastic, glad I listened" Ginny said, standing up and moving towards Hermione. She stood in front of the door, and pointed.
"Please, just go" she whispered.
Hermione nodded.
"Alright, but first, one more thing" she said, holding up her finger.
Ginny sighed loudly, but nodded her head.
Hermione leaned forward and pressed her lips against Ginny's, resting her hands on the younger girl's hips.
Without even thinking, Ginny kissed her back, wrapping her arms around Hermione's neck.
When they pulled apart, Hermione grinned.
"I've been thinking, and I think I fancy you too. I know I at least want to try this" she said, her grin turning into a shy smile.
Ginny's confused look transformed as well, and in seconds she was smiling brightly.
"I would love that" she responded, before leaning back in for another kiss.