Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
A/N: So, this is the second part. I hope you enjoy it :) oh, excuse my feeble attempt at coming up with an 'original' password for the portrait hole ¬¬ I hate having to do that... but oh well.
Please review.
La Alegría – Part II
Hermione felt decidedly sick.
She was sure that there was nothing physically wrong with her, despite feeling as though she was going to hurl the contents of her stomach. She sighed heavily and sat back, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes, trying to breathe deeply and settle her stomach.
"You alright, Hermione?" Harry asked, looking across at Hermione from the other side of the table.
"Yeah," Hermione said quietly, lowering her hands from her eyes. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"Okay," Harry said, smiling at her. "Do you think you could help me out with these Charms questions?" he asked, pushing his list of questions towards her.
She smiled back at him, "Sure. What're you having problems with?"
He grinned happily at her and leaned forward to point at the questions he was having trouble with. Hermione managed to help him, undisturbed, for twenty minutes before they were interrupted.
Hermione was looking up from the work she and Harry were doing, trying to think of the best way to word what she was thinking, when she saw a glimpse of long red hair through the bookshelves of the library. She bit her bottom lip and her stomach returned to doing aerobatics as she realised Ginny was coming towards her.
"Hey Harry," Ginny said as she approached the pair, leaning on the back of the chair Harry was sitting on and poking him on the shoulder.
"Hey Gin," Harry grinned. "Hermione's helping me with that Charms crap I was complaining about last night."
Ginny smiled weakly, "That's good. Listen, I just wanted to talk to you about some tactics for Quidditch. I'd like to talk to Ron about them too, d'you reckon we could talk about it at dinner tonight?"
"Sure, sounds good," Harry said, smiling at the youngest Weasley.
"Alright. I should go do some of my homework too then," Ginny said, glancing at Hermione.
"Do you need any help?" Hermione asked, desperately hoping that the state of her stomach wouldn't have any effect on the tone of her voice.
"No, I'm fine with it," Ginny said quickly, "See you later." She turned and walked briskly towards the exit, leaving Hermione with triple the amount of butterflies in her stomach.
"What was that?" Harry asked, sounding confused.
Hermione bit her bottom lip again and looked down at Harry's homework. "Nothing. We should do this work if you want to get to the Great Hall on time for dinner."
"Hermione," Harry said softly, reaching forward to touch her wrist, "that wasn't nothing. What's going on with you two? You guys haven't spent any time together all week."
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know, she's just been avoiding me." She wasn't sure what else she should say to Harry. She wasn't sure how much more she knew, if she was honest with herself.
"Mmm," Harry murmured, frowning at his best female friend. "Have you tried to talk to her about it?"
"Every time she sees me, she turns around to walk away or something. I've tried to talk to her, but she won't let me get near enough to have an actual conversation with her," Hermione sighed, glancing at the exit Ginny had taken a minute earlier.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" Harry asked.
"No, it's alright. I guess I'll try to corner her after you and Ron talk to her tonight," Hermione said, giving Harry a small smile. "Come on, we should finish this work."
"Right."
There was shepherd's pie for dinner that night. Hermione's favourite. The house elves had really outdone themselves too; the potato, in particular, was especially creamy and fluffy. Hermione, however hadn't really noticed. She sat opposite from Ginny and Ron, with Harry next to her, watching Ginny talk animatedly about possible Quidditch formations and tactics.
That was all she did during dinner; sit there eating and watching Ginny talk. As she took her second mouthful of food, she was admiring the way Ginny's eyes were sparkling as she talked emphatically. By the time half of her shepherd's pie had disappeared, she was carefully watching the way Ginny's lips moved as she spoke, subconsciously remembering the way they felt up against her own.
Soft, insistent sucking on her bottom lip... tongues touching, fighting, dancing... soft, breathless moans and creamy pale, smooth skin...
Hermione heard a loud CLUNK, and suddenly realised her hands were wet.
"Hermione, you okay?" Harry asked, gripping her forearm and rubbing it softly with his thumb.
"I'm... I'm fine," Hermione said, her voice shaking slightly. She looked down at the table to see she had knocked her goblet of pumpkin juice over.
"You sure?" Harry asked, frowning at her.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just got lost in my thoughts for a second," Hermione said, taking her napkin from her lap and dabbing up the pumpkin juice as best she could. She glanced up at Ginny to see her chewing on her bottom lip and watching her. "I think I might go up, actually," she said, quickly standing up.
"But you haven't finished dinner!" Harry called after her. He sighed as she kept on walking, frowning at her back.
"More for me then!" Ron said, leaning forward to grab her plate.
"Don't touch it," Ginny snapped, smacking his hand away.
"Why not?" Ron asked in surprise. "She's not coming back."
"She'll be hungry later on," Ginny glared at her older brother.
"You can take it to her then," Harry said, looking pointedly at Ginny.
The redheaded girl bit her bottom lip. "I think you should," she said, reaching for her goblet of pumpkin juice to take a sip.
"No," Harry said firmly. "There's been something off between you two all week, and I think you need to sort it out with her."
Ginny didn't look at him, glaring down at her plate instead.
Harry sighed, "If you don't take it to her, I guess it's alright for Ron to eat it."
"Fine," Ginny said quickly, leaning forward and grabbing the plate before Ron could. "I'll take it to her now then, I'm full."
"Good," Harry muttered.
Ginny wasn't sure where Hermione would be. She could only think of two places Hermione went to after leaving dinner in such a huff; the library or Gryffindor Tower. Ginny decided to check the library first, knowing it was far more likely for Hermione to want to be surrounded by books. She peered around the corner of the door to the library to see if Madam Pince was there, and once she confirmed the entrance to the library was unguarded, she quietly walked in, heading straight for the table near the restricted section.
At least you know this is affecting her.
"What's affecting her?" Ginny muttered to herself.
The fact that you and her aren't talking.
"Right," she sighed heavily as she reached the table at the furthest corner of the library. There was no one there.
Ginny turned around and walked back towards the exit, moving as quickly and quietly as she could. Thankfully, she made it out of there without Madam Pince coming at her with books flailing at the sight of food in her most sacred library.
"Gryffindor Tower, then," Ginny said to herself, beginning to walk in that direction.
You never told her anything, y'know.
"I know," Ginny muttered, chewing down on her bottom lip.
That wasn't really fair to her.
"So you've been telling me all week," she sighed. "I can't face her."
Well, you're going to have to now.
"I know. Butternut," Ginny said to the Fat Lady, who smiled happily and swung open to let her pass. Ginny climbed through the portrait hole and walked through to the common room to find it deserted. She glanced down at the plate of food she was still holding, noticing it had gone cold. Withdrawing her wand from her robes, she quickly cast a mild heating charm over the shepherd's pie before climbing the staircase up to the girl's dormitory.
Hermione was sitting on her bed, trying to calm down by reading a book. The images her mind had jumped to during dinner really shook her up. Straight girls didn't fantasize about... that during dinner, while watching the person inspiring these rather racy thoughts.
'I was only thinking about it because of what happened last weekend!' Hermione thought furiously to herself for what felt like the millionth time.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a painfully familiar voice called out, "Hermione?"
Hermione dropped her book and stared at the door fearfully, not able to say anything since her throat had decided to close up.
"I'm coming in," Ginny called before opening the door.
"W-what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, swallowing against the lump in her throat.
"You didn't finish dinner," Ginny said, holding the plate of food up. "Shepherd's pie is your favourite, and I didn't want you to go hungry."
"I'm surprised Ron didn't eat it before you could bring it up here," Hermione said, giving Ginny a half-hearted smile.
Ginny smiled back at her, "I smacked him away from it."
There was silence for a second before Ginny sighed softly and approached Hermione's bed, "I'll leave this here with you then."
"Thanks," Hermione said softly, watching Ginny place the plate at the foot of her bed. She was still trying to build up the courage to ask Ginny what was actually going on when Ginny turned around and began to walk out the room.
Hermione grit her teeth, slipped off the bed and stood up, "Ginny!"
Ginny stopped in the doorway and slowly turned around. "What's up?" she asked.
"I just... I just want to know why you've been avoiding me all week," Hermione said, moving closer to Ginny.
The younger girl sighed and looked down at the floor. "You already know why."
"No I don't, you never told me you were gonna stop talking to me or avoid me and you certainly didn't voice any reasons why," Hermione said quickly, trying desperately not to sound angry. She wasn't angry, she definitely wasn't angry.
Ginny looked back at the hallway and moved into the room, closing the door behind her. "People are starting to come back from dinner," she said, turning around to look at Hermione again.
"Please tell me why," Hermione said softly, feeling tears at the corners of her eyes forming.
"Alright," Ginny replied. "Sit down and I'll tell you."
Hermione moved back to the edge of her bed and sat down, clasping her hands together on her lap and trying not to fiddle with her fingers nervously.
Ginny ran her fingers through her hair slowly, chewing on her bottom lip, before sitting down on the edge of Parvati's bed, opposite Hermione. She was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and the heels of her palms pressed into her eyes. She looked so helpless and cute that Hermione couldn't help but want to move closer to her and put her arms around her and make her feel better...
"I... like you," Ginny said quietly.
"As... more than a friend?" Hermione asked, her stomach doing that butterfly thing again.
Ginny nodded and looked up at the brunette, "For a while now."
"Ah," Hermione said, "and the kiss...?"
"Really didn't help," Ginny sighed, looking down at her hands. "I'm sorry, I was drunk and I just couldn't help myself."
"It's alright," Hermione said quickly, "I didn't mind the kiss." She grinned slightly, hoping to make Ginny smile a little. "It's just that..."
"You're straight," Ginny said, looking back up at Hermione. "It's okay."
"Yeah... I'm straight," Hermione said softly, trying to ignore the sudden plummet her stomach took as the words escaped her mouth.
"So, you know why I can't be around you," Ginny said, standing up. "I can't get over you if I'm around you all the time and I really don't want to lose you as a friend."
Hermione nodded, blinking furiously to try to make the tears in her eyes go away.
"I cast a heating charm on your food," Ginny added before leaving, "but you might want to redo it or something."
Hermione sniffed slightly and nodded, looking up at her.
Ginny sighed, "Please don't cry. I promise things will get back to normal soon."
Hermione nodded again and rubbed her eyes. She felt a small pressure at the top of her head and realised it was Ginny kissing her.
"I'll talk to you soon," Ginny said softly, squeezing Hermione's shoulder.
She turned, walked to the door and opened it. Looking back for a moment, Hermione was watching her with a mixed expression of pain and confusion. As she turned around to walk out of the room, her own tears finally escaped.
Hermione didn't sleep that night. She had managed a few more bites of her food before she started feeling physically ill and had to stop. She knew there was nothing wrong with the food though. It was these damn butterflies.
So, she stayed up reading through most of the night, feeling far too uneasy to be able to relax enough to go to sleep. Every now and then, when her concentration wavered, she'd find herself thinking about Ginny, and wondering if she was lying in bed awake too. Eventually, she got to a point of feeling so restless that she couldn't stay in bed reading anymore.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, feeling around for her slippers for a moment before sliding her feet into them, standing up and padding over to her wardrobe to take her bag down with her.
'I'm going to go do some work,' she thought to herself as she walked out of her dorm and down the hall to the staircase down to the common room.
It was only one o'clock in the morning when Hermione sat down to start working. She worked rather well for an hour or two, quickly finishing off an Arithmancy essay, and an extra-curricular Herbology report. Her concentration and thoughts remained undisturbed until she came across a piece of parchment with her writing, and Ginny's on it.
The pair had exchanged this piece of parchment over the period of a week closer to the start of that year. Hermione bit her lip as she read through the conversation, wondering if Ginny had 'liked' her when she was writing these notes.
Hermione put the parchment down and lifted her legs to her so she was hugging her knees. The butterflies were back, and her thoughts were back on Ginny. She wanted to know why the memory of kissing Ginny wasn't a bad one, or an uncomfortable one. She wanted to know why she felt this uncontrollable urge to do it again.
She knew why she had reacted with tears when Ginny had left earlier; she didn't want to stop talking to Ginny for an unknown period of time... she needed the redheaded girl to talk to, to spend time with. Harry and Ron were the only two other people she spent time with, apart from Ginny, and she knew that if she was to only socialise with boys for a few weeks, she'd go crazy.
Hermione closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on top of her knees, letting the tears come again, wanting the woman she loved to stop being so selfish and come back to...
'Wait,' Hermione thought to herself. 'Woman I love?'
She lifted her head slowly, tears still rolling down her cheeks. She looked over at the girl's staircase and her eyes widened with the realisation; I love her.
Yo duermo y duermo y duermo... para no pensar.
