Okay so this is the second part of my Hermione/Ginny arc. Again I'm trying to stick as close to canon as I can and make this more like a missing scene. This one takes place directly after the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire, after Hermione and Ron argue in the common room.
Enjoy this one, too!


Hermione and Ginny Part Two

Ginny ran up the stairs to girls dormitories. Running past her own she banged on the door to Hermione's.

"Hermione! Hermione! Let me in!" there was a sniffle and then a shuffle of feet. The door opened a fraction and Hermione peeked out. Through the small gap Hermione could see that Ginny was on the verge of tears and Ginny could see Hermione was crying. Hermione opened the door fully and let her into the dormitory. Thankfully there was no one else in and Ginny collapsed down onto Hermione's bed, face down into the pillows. The mattress sank and she knew Hermione had joined her.

"Where are-"

"Still out with their dates." said Hermione in a thick voice. "So what happened?"

"I got asked out." came her muffled voice. Hermione, who had just lain down, shot back up.

"What?" Ginny nodded her head which was still buried in the pillows. "By who?"

"Mwichl Cwrner." mumbled Ginny into her mouthful of pillowcase.

"Who?" asked Hermione, Ginny's response hadn't exactly been intelligible.

"Michael Corner." she said rolling onto her front. Hermione looked down at her through red eyes.

"Isn't this good?" she asked, confused. Ginny made a funny movement with her head.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "It's like I really want to be with Michael but another part of me wishes that Neville hadn't asked me so I could've gone with Harry!" Hermione nodded her head.

"Remember what I told you in the summer?" Ginny nodded her head. "This is the opportunity to move on."

"I know but now I don't know what to do, because I know Harry doesn't like me because I saw him staring at Cho the entire evening! Yet I feel bad about Michael, I feel like I'm leading him on, or something."

"Well, you'll probably always have a thing for Harry but that shouldn't stop you being with other people you like, especially as you've pointed out, Harry doesn't like you like that."

"That's the other thing, seeing him staring at Cho like that, it hurts. It really hurts." she ran a hand over her face. Hermione nodded and patted her shoulder.

"It'll get better, that's why you should go out with Michael, it'll help you forget."

"And I'm not leading him on?" Hermione shook her head slowly.

"No I don't think so, not if you genuinely like him." Ginny smiled, glad that all her problems were easily solved. She still wasn't happy but she would have to make do. After all she was only in third year, she had plenty of time for Harry or someone else to fall for her. Hermione broke her musings. "Did you actually say yes when he asked?" Ginny turned pink and then shook her head.

"Well no, I sort of panicked. I mean, he asked me and I didn't know what to do! I don't even know him!" Hermione nodded.

"So what did you say?"

"Nothing! I ran off and then I felt like a complete fool because he cornered me again and said he completely understood if I didn't want to say yes but that the offer was still open." Hermione nodded some more.

"Maybe you should talk to him, like become his friend, but make it clear you are interested in dating but don't want yet-does that make sense?" Ginny shook her head and Hermione sighed. "Say you want to get to know him a little better before you think about going out with him."

"Because that's not awkward at all." Hermione shrugged.

"He'll understand, he's a Ravenclaw after all, besides it's better for you, this way you can make sure that he's asking you out for you and not just your looks." Ginny gaped at Hermione, astounded at how she had managed to think of everything and come up with a logical conclusion, especially considering she'd never had a boyfriend. Speaking of which…

"What happened between you and Ron then?" asked Ginny and at her question tears filled Hermione's eyes. It seemed that the mere memory of the event could reduce her to tears. She lay down on her stomach, head propped on her palms.

"He was so horrible to me." whispered Hermione. Ginny turned her head to look at her friend.

"What did he say?"

"Well first he just gave me this cold-shoulder but that only lasted for about a minute or two. Then he started saying how I was fraternising with the enemy." Ginny gaped at her.

"No!" Hermione nodded sadly. "But he's got a model of Krum in his dorm! He idolises him!"

"I know that's what I said but he wouldn't admit that I was right so he just said something even worse. He accused me of trying to help Viktor work out the egg clue!" Now Ginny was furious. Alright she understood that her brother might not like seeing Hermione dance with another man, Ginny was pretty sure he liked her, but that was no excuse to say that. She very much wanted to go and hex him right now but managed to constrain herself as Hermione kept talking through her sobs. "As if he's forgotten that he was the one that ditched Harry when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, that if it weren't for me Harry might not of gotten past that dragon at all! No he's just stupid and self-centred and…" she seemed to have run out of insults, instead burying her head in the blankets and crying. Ginny reached out a hand and patted her on the back.

Hermione cried for a long time and Ginny let her, knowing that this was the best cure.

"He spoiled my night." she sobbed. "Why couldn't he just let me be happy?"

"Maybe he was jealous." suggested Ginny. Hermione shook her head, her still silky hair swaying from side to side.

"No because when I told him that the solution was next time to ask me before someone else did and not as last resort and he just gaped stupidly at me, like he had no idea what I was talking about!" Ginny smiled a bit, she was sitting up now, a hand still resting comfortingly on Hermione's back.

"Hermione this is Ron we're talking about, of course he had no idea what you're talking about." Hermione propped herself up.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, Ron's not really the most… sensitive guy." Hermione snorted and Ginny grinned wryly. "He probably doesn't realise he likes you, he probably just really hates seeing you dancing and laughing with some other guy so he decides, because he's an utter prat, to take it out on you." she shrugged. Hermione sniffed again, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand.

"You know something." she said, her voice sounding very much like that of a person with a cold.

"What?" replied Ginny.

"We have terrible luck when it comes to guys." Ginny smiled again.

"Yeah, but it's like you said, move on. I can date Michael and you can be with Viktor. Wait, are you dating him?" Hermione shrugged.

"Things between him and I were left kind of weird because my argument with Ron put me in a terrible mood for the rest of the evening." Ginny nodded.

"Sort things out." she said, surprised by how authoritarian she sounded. "Then maybe we'll stop being miserable. And patch things up with Ron, for Harry's sake at least." Hermione rolled her eyes but nodded.

"Yeah, he deals with enough without me and Ron being very angry with each other, though it might take a little while." Ginny shrugged.

"I didn't say you had to do it by tomorrow. Besides if you stay friends with Ron he might just stop being an idiot long enough for him to realise how much you like him and he likes you." Hermione smiled and this one was a proper one.

"Thanks Ginny." she said.

"No problem." The door to their dormitory opened and Pavati and Lavender came in both giggling hysterically. They saw Ginny and Hermione and then giggled some more. "Well I best be off to bed." said Ginny, standing up.

"Yeah." said Hermione. "I'm shattered. Goodnight Ginny."

"Goodnight Hermione." she said as she closed the dormitory door.

Crossing back to her own dormitory she opened the door carefully so as not to disturb the other occupants, most of them were asleep as they had not gained dates from the upper years and therefore not attended the ball. She crossed the room quietly to the bathroom and began to take off the make-up she had been wearing that night. All in all, for herself, when she weighed it up, it hadn't been a bad night. She'd been asked out and, now that she wasn't so panicked, she was beginning to feel giddy. Hermione was right, she didn't have to date him now. She could get to know him a bit, make sure they both felt something and then go out with him. With that plan firmly in her head, Ginny changed, got into bed and dropped straight off to sleep.