Chapter 24: Good to Be Back

By the next day, I'd pushed all thoughts of Malfoy and his rude insult from my mind. Ron was right. I was strong, and smart, and I wasn't going to let something like this hold me back. Letting it define me is what people like Malfoy want, and I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of letting it affect me.

Since the Gryffindor's Quidditch practice had been interrupted the day before, Oliver had re-booked the team practice for this morning. Ron elected to go down and watch, claiming that he should be on hand in case the Slytherins showed up again. I chose not to point out that he'd been more of a hindrance last time and instead let him go with Harry. As for myself, I just wanted a bit of time alone.

I was sitting in an armchair in the common room, continuing where I'd left off the day before in Travels with Trolls, when I felt someone watching me. Suspiciously, I looked up to find Ginny standing a little way away, shifting from one foot to another indecisively while staring in my direction.

"Ginny?" I asked, curious as to what it was that she wanted.

"Hey Hermione," Ginny responded.

"Did you need something?" I prompted, when she continued to just stand there.

For a moment, Ginny was silent as she debated her answer. I could see a storm of conflict in her expression. But then she shook her head and started to turn away.

"No, never mind," she declared. "It was nothing."

"Clearly it's something," I insisted. "Come on, sit down and tell me what it is."

Ginny hesitated for a moment, but finally came over and took a seat in the chair across from me. She sat down right on the edge of the seat, perched as though she were preparing to run away, and I wondered what had her so wound up.

"So, what's going on?" I asked when she didn't volunteer anything.

The younger girl just shook her head. "It's nothing really. I don't know why I even bothered to come over. It's stupid. I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid," I told her. "Is it something with school?"

If it had to do with one of her classes, I could help. I'd aced all my classes last year, after all.

Ginny shook her head. "No, nothing like that," she said.

"Alright…" I pondered for a moment. "Is it something with one of your classmates? Or maybe with your dormmates?" I'd had trouble with my dormmates last year. In fact, we still didn't get along very well, though we'd reached a mutual agreement now to keep out of each others' way.

"No, not exactly," Ginny said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Okay," I said, trying to think what else it could be. "Is it something with your family?"

This time, Ginny shook her head more assuredly. "No, everything's fine back home," she assured me.

I tried to think of another potential source of stress but couldn't think of anything. If everything was fine with her schoolwork, her classmates, and her family, then what was even left?

"It's just that – " Ginny began softly, and I leaned forward a little to hear better. "Well there's this boy."

"Ohh," I said, understanding flooding through me. Ginny had a crush. It wasn't something that I was familiar with personally, but I'd heard about the emotional turmoil it could cause a person. "Well that's not so bad. Just talk to him."

"Hermione!" Ginny said in shock. "I can't just go up and talk to him. Do you know how embarrassing that would be?"

"But what if he likes you too?" I inquired. It seemed very simple to me. If he liked her, then everything would be great. If he didn't, at least she'd know and could move on.

"He doesn't," Ginny shook her head sadly. "He barely even knows I exist."

"Well that's why you have to talk to him," I insisted. "So that he can know you."

"It's not that easy," Ginny claimed. "He – he's way out of my league."

"Well I'm sure that's not true," I shook my head. "You're not giving yourself enough credit."

"No, it's true," Ginny insisted. "He's really popular, and smart, and funny, and athletic. He could have any girl he wanted."

"But what if that girl was you?" I pointed out.

Ginny shook her head again. "No, he wouldn't want me. I'm nothing special. And I'm only a first year."

"Is he not a first year too?" I frowned. We'd only been back to school for a week. How had Ginny already managed to meet people outside of her year?

Ginny turned red and I realized that she hadn't meant on letting that detail slip. It was out in the open now though, and she couldn't take it back.

"Y-yeah," she admitted. "He's a second year, like you."

"Really?" I asked, immediately starting to run through the list of all the boys in my year. The Slytherins were immediately out. No way did Ginny have a crush on someone like Malfoy or one of his cronies. I decided it probably had to be a Gryffindor. She'd probably run across him in the common room sometime. There wouldn't really have been an opportunity for her to have interacted with a second year in Ravenclaw of Hufflepuff yet. "Who is it?"

Ginny turned even more red at this question and I suspected she wasn't going to tell me. It couldn't be too hard to guess though – there were only five boys to choose from. And Ron was obviously out, since he was her brother.

I frowned as I ran through the other four boys in my mind. It wasn't Neville. Ginny had said the boy she liked was popular, and Neville was anything but. She'd also said the boy was smart, funny, and athletic. And between Dean, Seamus, and Harry, only one of them was on the Quidditch team. And Ginny certainly would have had plenty of time to get to know him, given he'd lived at her house for a month prior to the start of term…

"Ginny?" I asked slowly, trying to be as sensitive as possible to the girl's feelings. "Is it – Do you like Harry?"

The mortified look on the girl's face was all the confirmation I needed. And as soon as it was confirmed, I felt my spirits sink. Ginny couldn't confess her feelings to Harry. Sure, Harry would be nice enough about it if she did, but I knew him well enough to know he didn't return those feelings, and to be turned down by Harry Potter – well I could only imagine how much that would crush the girl before me.

"Listen Ginny," I said, shifting uncomfortably in my seat as I tried to figure out what to say that wouldn't totally destroy her self-esteem. "Harry – he's a complicated person and he's dealing with a lot of stuff. For one thing, there's the fame of being The Boy Who Lived, and constantly dealing with people fawning over him. Then there's his family, who as I'm sure you've heard aren't the best people. And there's the pressure of classes, the pressure of Quidditch, not to mention he's still dealing with the aftereffects of everything that happened at the end of last year."

"What did happen last year?" Ginny asked. "My parents would never tell me, and Ron was so quiet the first half of the summer."

"Don't worry about it," I said, not wanting to get into everything with Quirrell. "Just – it was stressful, and more so for Harry than the rest of us. Look, what I'm saying is – I'm not sure Harry's ready for anything right now. Maybe in a few years, but for now, he just wants to play Quidditch and spend time with his friends. So maybe if you tried to just be his friend – "

"But I don't want to just be his friend," Ginny said obstinately.

"I know," I said. "But if you tried starting out as friends, then maybe in a few years, things would turn into something more."

"I don't know if I can be his friend," Ginny shook her head. "I can't even talk when I'm around him."

"Well then maybe we should start by working on that. Maybe try making friends with some of the boys in your year, and get used to talking to them, and then that'll make it easier to talk to Harry."

"I don't know – " Ginny said hesitantly.

"Yeah, it's a great idea," I nodded. "In fact, I know just the boy. He's in Gryffindor too: Colin Creevey. Do you know him?"

"The boy with the camera?" Ginny frowned.

"That's the one," I nodded enthusiastically. "He's a little obsessed with Harry too. Always follows him around trying to get photos and autographs. So at least the two of you would have something in common to talk about."

"I'm not sure – "

"Trust me," I interrupted. "I know what I'm talking about. Make friends with Colin. Get used to talking to boys. And then once you're more comfortable, you can try talking to Harry."

Ginny thought about it for a moment and then finally agreed. "Alright," she nodded. "I'll give it a try. Thanks for talking to me, Hermione."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled, glad I could be of help. "You know you can talk to me anytime, right?"

Ginny nodded, and then got up and left, probably to go and find Colin. I suspected he was probably down at the Quidditch pitch photographing Harry's practice again.

Befriending Colin would be good for Ginny, I thought. And maybe it would even provide a good distraction for Colin, so that he wasn't following Harry around all year. Because I knew that if Colin went on stalking Harry much longer, Harry was going to lose it, and that wasn't something anybody needed to see.

Harry's practice lasted until lunch, after which the boys joined me up in the common room to work on their homework. Both boys had procrastinated doing it all weekend, and now it had piled up and they had to get it done or risk losing points for not doing it.

"Game of chess?" Ron asked after about an hour and a half.

"You can't possibly be finished all your work already," I insisted.

Ron shook his head. "No, but I've finished transfiguration and herbology, which means it's time for a little break."

"You can have a break when it's all finished," I insisted. "Look, Harry's already started on charms."

"Come on Hermione, just one game?" Ron insisted.

With a sigh, I closed the book I was reading (Gadding with Ghouls – I'd finished Travels with Trolls that morning) and motioned for Ron to set up the game.

"Just one," I warned him. "Then it's back to your homework."

"Yes Mum," Ron said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes and decided not to respond to his comment.

"Wager?" I asked. Though Ron and Harry usually played for fun, Ron and I always had to set a bet.

"If I win, you write my charms essay," Ron declared.

"No," I shook my head. "No more wagering schoolwork." We'd done that last year, and Ron had ended up lagging behind the rest of the class for not having done the work himself. Doing Ron's essay for him would only hurt him in the long run.

"Fine," Ron muttered. "Then… If I win, you trade wands with me."

"That would never work," I pointed out. "The wand chooses the wizard, remember? If I gave you my wand, it would probably work even less than your broken one. You'll just have to get a new one of your own."

Ron sighed. "Then I don't know," he insisted. "What do you want?"

I pondered that for a moment. "Alright," I declared. "If I win, you have to carry my books for the next week."

"Fine," Ron agreed. "But only the ones we need that day. I'll not be carrying around your entire library just because you like to have options for your lunchtime reading."

"Agreed," I agreed. "And if you win, I'll carry your books."

"I don't need a girl to carry my books for me," Ron insisted, sitting up straight as he tried to look more manly. I had to force myself not to laugh. "If I win, then you'll come with me to watch Harry's Quidditch practice on Tuesday night."

"It's a deal," I said, reaching out to shake Ron's hand.

As usual, I played white, so it was my move first. Though I'd read up about Quidditch strategies over the summer, it seemed that I was still no match for Ron. Within about ten minutes, he'd completely pulverized my men and conquered my king.

"Again," I said in frustration.

"I thought you said we could only play one game?" Ron asked innocently. "Or are you taking that back?"

Making a fist, I let my irritation pass before answering.

"No, you're right, you write your charms essay," I said.

"Well I don't mind putting it off if you really want to play again," Ron insisted. "In fact, I'd be more than happy to put it off all day."

"No, no," I shook my head. Ron's education came first. It was just frustrating that it took him so long to get it done. "I'll just go back to my reading until you're done."

The rest of the afternoon and evening progressed in much the same fashion as always. Harry and Ron got their work done, and then Ron and I had another game of chess. After getting roped into going, not only to Harry's Tuesday night Quidditch practice with Ron, but also his Thursday night and Saturday afternoon practices, I gave up trying to win and let Harry have a go.

Sitting back and watching the boys play, I couldn't help but smile and close my eyes a little bit as I leaned back and just enjoyed being in the common room. It was great being back. I'd missed this. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.