The redhead was sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room, finishing the Transfiguration homework Hermione had heard her mention earlier. Hermione, who was, naturally, ahead in all of her classes, was going down to find Harry and Ron and say goodbye to Hagrid, but she hesitated on the stairs. She didn't know whether she ought to walk past Ginny in silence, or greet the younger girl. The two girls hadn't spoken since Hermione had returned from her Petrifaction.
As it happened, the decision was to be made for her. Ginny looked up as she was passing, and murmured, "Hi, Hermione."
Hermione smiled uncertainly. Since her awakening, she had often caught Ginny staring at her with an odd look on her face, and she wasn't exactly sure what it portended. Now, she suspected she might be about to find out. "Hello, Ginny."
Ginny cleared her throat and looked down at her paper. She muttered something under her breath, and Hermione strained to hear her.
"I'm sorry?"
Ginny glanced up for a moment and then drew her gaze back down. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
Hermione blinked. "For what?" The first-year didn't respond, but Hermione understood. "Ginny..."
She walked across the room and sat down on the couch next to her friend. "It wasn't your fault."
Ginny didn't meet her eyes. "You could've died," she whispered.
"But I didn't. And besides, even Dumbledore says it wasn't your fault." Hermione could hear that she sounded dismissive, but she wasn't sure how to get her point across. She reached out and put her hand on top of Ginny's. "It was You-Know-Who, that's it. You're as much a victim as I am."
She could see that Ginny didn't believe her, and she didn't think she could do anything about that, but she could at least show Ginny that she really didn't blame her. She shifted her hand so that she was holding the other girl by her fingers, and got up from the couch.
"Harry and Ron and I are going to Hagrid's. Do you want to come?" She asked timidly, unsure what the response would be.
Slowly and uncertainly, Ginny nodded and stood up. Hermione clasped her hand more tightly, and the two girls walked out of the common room together.
A/N: If you really squint, the story is already romance, but the elder of the two is only twelve, so I prefer to interpret this as merely friendship.
