Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter series. I am not JK Rowling. I write fanfiction for my own enjoyment and those who are kind enough to read and review. : )
A/N- I apologize in advance for any silly grammar mistakes I might've missed. Blame it on sleep deprivation while proofreading…
The remainder of Hermione's visit with her parents went almost exactly as any other visit with her parents went. They ate the customary appetizers as they caught up on what had been going on in their lives, followed later in the day by a dinner during which there was more of the same. After the meal, Hermione would help her mother clean the dishes the muggle way before returning to her flat.
The only thing that was any different was a very obvious effort on Mrs. Granger's part to stay away from the topic of their earlier conversation, or any questions regarding Hermione's love interests. Mr. Granger took this as a cue to do the same, and all three found themselves treading very carefully when the conversation drifted in that general direction. The conversations with her parents were normally relaxing and comfortable, but this afternoon put Hermione on edge a bit.
Hermione knew that her parents still loved and accepted her as she was, but she could tell that it was going to take awhile for her mother come to terms with her coming out. It wasn't the ideal situation, but it also wasn't the nightmarish one that flashed across her mind prior to arriving on her parent's doorstep. Her father hardly seemed fazed by it aside from the way he found out, and her mother hadn't rejected her completely. It was a good start. Yes, a good start.
When Hermione left her childhood home around six o'clock, she decided that she didn't feel like going back to her empty flat. Instead, she stopped by the Quidditch pitch to see if she could catch the end of Ginny's match and talk to her afterwards. Even though she and Ginny were now on speaking terms, they hadn't completely made up with each other and Hermione thought that they ought to have a proper conversation about it.
When she arrived at the pitch, she saw that the stands were empty and all players were absent from the sky. Hermione looked around and spotted a janitor cleaning nearby.
"Excuse me," she said as she tapped him on the shoulder.
The old wizard looked up from his effort to remove gum from a seat. His demeanor changed almost immediately from annoyed to pleased. "Why hello there! You're Hermione Granger, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am," Hermione said patiently with what had become a compulsory smile at being recognized. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you know whether or not the players have left."
"No bother, not a bother at all Miss Granger," he said. "The Harpies are still in the changing room. I can take you down there if you'd like."
"That would be wonderful," Hermione said.
The man put down the cloth that he had been working with and began walking quickly, gesturing to Hermione to follow him. He had a long, quick stride that Hermione struggled to keep up with and when she did catch up, Hermione saw that they were walking onto the Quidditch pitch.
"Are we suppose to be here?" Hermione asked. She felt strange and out of place walking across the empty field; only on a handful of occasions had she actually set foot on a pitch, and never had she been on one in such an impressive stadium.
"Yeah, I don't see a problem with you," he said without breaking his stride. "Walking on here is quicker than going the other way."
When they reached the opposite end of the field near the goal post, the janitor stopped and turned so abruptly that Hermione nearly ran into him.
"Changing room'll still be closed so you'll have to wait out here. They should be done soon though," the man explained.
"Thank you very much," Hermione said.
"Not a problem. I'll be back where you found me if you need anything else, Miss Granger," the man said as he gave a deferential little nod of his head.
Hermione always cringed inwardly when people treated her with such deference and awe for something that she, in all honesty, wished they would forget. Any loyal friend would have done the same things that she and Ron had done for Harry; she couldn't see why people still marveled at it years later.
"I think I'll be fine," she said with the same automatic smile as before, though she tried to make it seem as genuine as possible.
The man nodded again before leaving Hermione on the pitch. Hermione turned around slowly on the spot to take in the new perspective that she had down on the field. Though not a Quidditch fan, she could appreciate the view for the sheer scale of this place. After another moment, she decided to settle on the plush grass with her back against the middle of the three massive goal posts. She crossed her legs at her ankles and enjoyed the breeze gently rustling her hair; it was a bit chilly for her taste, but enjoyable weather nonetheless. The only thing that would make this moment more tranquil would be having a book to read, so Hermione fished through her bottomless purse and pulled out a new book on Acromantula regulation in nineteenth century.
She'd made it through a few pages when Ginny walked onto to the pitch from behind the goal posts and sat down next to Hermione.
"Only you," Ginny said, the corners of her lips turning up in a half smile.
Hermione jumped, startled by Ginny's sudden appearance. "Oh, hello," she said, offering Ginny a smile. "Only me what?"
"Only you would come to and sit on a Quidditch pitch to read a book," Ginny said.
"Hmm," Hermione said shortly, surprising even herself with the sharpness of her voice.
Ginny seemed bewildered by the source of Hermione's sudden snippiness. "I was just joking around. Is there something wrong? You seem sort of tense."
"I'm fine," Hermione said. "Everything's fine."
Ginny let a moment of silence pass, expecting Hermione to continue. It wasn't the kind of 'everything's fine' that actually meant things were alright. It was the kind where everything wasn't fine and Hermione would continue to rationalize why everything was in fact fine, before starting to admit to herself that all wasn't as well as she was trying to make it out to be. Sure enough Hermione continued.
"It's just my mum," she said.
"She didn't take it well, I'm guessing," Ginny said.
"She's not going to be throwing me a coming out party, if that's what you mean," Hermione said with a humorless laugh.
"I'm sorry," Ginny said as she rubbed Hermione's shoulder. "I suppose that was partly my fault."
"She would have reacted the same way if I'd come out in a more, er, traditional way," Hermione said. "It's just going to take her some time to get use to, that's all. It could have been a lot worse."
Ginny tried to look in Hermione's eyes, but Hermione had suddenly become too interested in picking at the grass to make eye contact with Ginny.
"I don't know," Hermione mumbled. "It's just that I've never let her down before, and I sort of feel as though I did."
Ginny turned so that she was kneeling and facing Hermione. She tilted her head and stroked Hermione's hair comfortingly, the way Mrs. Weasley had done when she was a child. "You didn't let her down. Like you said, she probably just needs some time. It's not as though she threw you out of the house or anything. Besides, it's not your job to do what your mother imagined for you. If life ended up the way that my mum imagined it, I would be married to Harry, a Healer at Saint Mungo's, and Fleur's best friend. Oh, and you would be married to Ron with a baby on the way."
Hermione gave a small laugh. "I suppose things don't always go as imagined then."
"No, they don't," Ginny said. "And if your mum loves you, which I know she must, she'll be able to adjust."
"I suppose," Hermione said as she looked at Ginny for the first time and smiled. "Thank you."
"Thank you for what?" Ginny asked as she lay on her back to look up at the darkening sky.
"For saying exactly what I needed to hear," Hermione said as she moved so that she was kneeling with a leg on either side of Ginny's waist. "And for being such a wonderful girlfriend. Even if you did out me to my parents."
Ginny smirked as she propped herself up on her elbows and gave Hermione a lingering kiss. "It's my pleasure."
Hermione brushed aside a strand of hair that had escaped from Ginny's loose ponytail and left her hand on Ginny's cheek while gazing at the redheaded witch. "This really is wonderful isn't it?"
"It certainly feels pretty damn good to me," Ginny said.
She kissed Hermione again and put a hand on Hermione's cheek. Ginny slowly slid her hand onto the back of Hermione's neck before gently pulling Hermione to the ground, all without breaking the kiss. Hermione thoroughly enjoyed the gentleness of the kiss after all of the angry kisses she'd been experiencing of late. It was a welcome change of pace and Hermione soaked it in for awhile until she realized that she hadn't addressed the conmversation she thought she ought to have with Ginny.
With some reluctance and difficulty, Hermione pulled away from Ginny. As she looked down at Ginny her hair fell in a thick curtain around both of their faces obscuring their faces from view had anyone been looking. She licked her lips nervously as she caught her breath.
"We should probably talk," she said finally. It was clearly not what Ginny was hoping to hear as she dropped her head back onto the grass and sighed.
"What do you want to talk about?" Ginny asked, trying to humor Hermione's sudden desire to talk at that exact moment.
"I think you know," Hermione said as she propped herself up on her elbows.
"I really don't, Hermione," Ginny said after rubbing a hand over her face as if to keep her composure. "Why don't you tell me?"
Hermione sighed and cocked her head to one side as she scrutinized Ginny. It was a gaze of Hermione's that Ginny didn't particularly like being under. It gave her the uneasy feeling that Hermione was subjecting her to Leglimens, though she knew that Hermione wasn't using any magic at all.
After another long moment of scrutiny, Hermione seemed satisfied that Ginny was telling the truth and got off of Ginny's lap to rest against the goal post again.
"Your family," Hermione said by way of explanation.
"We're having this conversation again?" Ginny groaned as she sat up. Of all of the things Hermione could have chosen, it was one of the last conversations that Ginny wanted to have.
"Yes, we are having this conversation again," Hermione said. "Because we never really finished the first one, in case you forgot."
Ginny sighed, but, with some difficulty, refrained from rolling her eyes at Hermione. "I thought that after today, you might not mind waiting a little while."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, what if my family reacts like your mum, or worse?" Ginny said.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked sharply. "You were the one that just conviced me that my mum's reaction wasn't all that bad."
"I'm talking about the drama in general," Ginny said impatiently. "I don't like all the drama, and I thought that you would want to wait a little while before going through that again."
"Well, maybe your family will react like my father," Hermione said as she turned to face Ginny who was now sitting next to her. Then added with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Drama free, just the way you like it."
Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she considered her next words very carefully. The tension was so high that saying one wrong word would set off an argument more intense than the one at the book store.
"Listen, I don't want to fight with you," Ginny said as evenly as possible. "And I do care about us coming out. I care very much about it. I just need to do it on my own time."
Hermione seemed slightly appeased by Ginny's appeal and nodded. "I can understand that. I'm not going to wait forever though, Ginny. I love you, but this secret is not something that I want to have to keep for much longer."
"I know," Ginny said. "I don't either. I just want to be ready, and do this my own way."
"That's fine," Hermione said. It clearly wasn't what she'd been hoping for, but Ginny was being more reasonable in this conversation than the previous one, so she thought that she ought to return the favor.
"Thanks."
They sat in comfortable silence next to each other as they watched the final rays of sun disappear behind the horizon.
"So," Ginny said to break the silence as she squinted at her watch. "It's about time for me to get some sleep. I have a practice early tomorrow morning. I suppose that's what we get for getting our arses kicked by the Canons though."
"That's rough," Hermione said as she winced sympathetically. Even as only a casual Quidditch follower, Hermione knew how awful the Canons were, and what a shock it was if they beat anyone. "Do you want to do lunch then tomorrow? I have some meetings to go to in the morning, but I'll be free the rest of the day."
"That would be lovely," Ginny said. "I'll likely be starved after practice anyway."
"It's a date then," Hermione said, as she gave Ginny a peck on the cheek. "See you then."
"Yep, see you then," Ginny said.
After the arrangements were made for the next day's meeting, Ginny and Hermione each dissapperated to their respective flats.
A/N- Another longer chapter here. Not much action, but I thought this conversation needed to happen.
Here's my question of the chapter: Who do you think you would be more like in this situation, Ginny or Hermione?
Reviews, even a word or two, make my day! : )