The Girl Who Loved: Part IV
Author's Note: Some of you expressed actual annoyance when I set this
fic aside for a few days to work on my Draco/Neville companion fic,
The Boy Who Cried. So here it is... part IV of The Girl Who Loved. And
for impatient shippers, yes, the Ginny/ Hermione relationship will
start to show in this one! Just give it time... speaking from experience,
an "unusual" sexual orientation isn't the easiest thing to come to
terms with.
Disclaimer: THIS IS S-L-A-S-H! And this is where it starts to show up,
not all that physically quite yet, but if that sort of thing offends you
for whatever bigoted reason you may have, then go read something
else. Please. Otherwise, read on, and I'd love to hear from anyone
with similar tastes :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As she walked through the hallways in a sleep deprived haze, Ginny
didn't even notice the disarrayed state of her clothing or the stares
she was recieving from other students who tended to be more fastidious
about their appearance. She made her way through the halls mechanically,
her only thoughts centered on the glorious breakfast that awaited her
in the dining hall. When she entered, most of the school was already
seated, and several heads swiveled in her direction to observe her
entrance.
Still exhausted as she plopped into an empty chair at the table, Ginny
was unaware that as she had made her way from the common room the wrinkled
robes- the same ones she had slept in the night before- had come untied at
the neck and were now threatening to slip off her thin shoulders. The
straps of her lacy black bra were visible, much to the amusement of a group
of 3rd and 4th year Slytherin boys who pointed in her direction and
snickered.
As Ginny picked away at her french toast, a rather sarcastic young first
year across the table asked snidely, "Long night?" Ginny ignored her, too
tired even to come up with a suitable retort. It didn't matter if some
silly first year thought that she'd been up all night with a boyfriend,
because soon enough everyone would know that wasn't possible. Ginny could
never have been up all night with her boyfriend, because the simple fact
of the matter was that Ginny didn't like boys. And now that Ginny had let
that fact slip to Hermione, she was surprised it wasn't the talk of the
table by now.
But Ginny had underestimated Hermione. The Gryffindor prefect was currently
ushering a group of first years who couldn't be bothered even after
several months at Hogwarts to learn their way to the Dining Hall, and the
thought of revealing Ginny's secret was the furthest notion from her
mind. What *was* on Hermione's mind was her own resolve to be true to
herself. After a long night of staring blankly at textbooks, Hermione
had come to no real conclusion as to what exactly it was she wanted.
But she knew it wasn't Harry, or any of the other Gryffindor boys. And to
her mind, that left only one option.
Hermione walked with an air of confidence to the farthest end of the
Gryffindor table, brushing past her usual seat with Harry and Ron. She
did not meet Harry's gaze- she couldn't face his eyes right now, that
intense stare filled with hurt and anger that she knew was focused on
her with every step she took. Seeing an open seat next to Ginny, she set
down her bookbag and pulled out the chair quietly, sitting down before
Ginny had looked up or even noticed Hermione's presence.
When the presence of another student did finally penetrate the fog of
Ginny's exhausted mind, she looked up without interest, expecting to
see another irritating first year, come to mock her for the shame her
heart was causing her. Instead, when Ginny's eyes met those of Hermione
she sat up a little straighter in her seat, startled. Unconciously she
ran her fingers through her hair, trying to force it to stay down so
that she maintained at least some sembelance of humanity.
It was rather silly, Ginny thought to herself with a sigh. Here she
was, faced with a girl that she knew by now could never care for her,
and yet still her vanity obliged her to try to impress Hermione with
her appearance. Glancing down and finally noticing the state of her
robes, she realized with a wry smile that it was too late for that, and
in embarassment she pulled her robes closed and tried to reassemble
herself as Hermione looked at her in silence.
Hermione felt her skin heat at the sight of Ginny. It looked like the
youngest Weasley hadn't slept at all last night, and certainly the state
of her attire suggested that perhaps Ginny wasn't up to a heart to heart
discussion right now. Although she couldn't help but notice the thin
frame and perfect skin that Ginny had unwittingly left revealed, Hermione
still felt akward with the situation. When she finally spoke, it was
quiet and uncertain. "Ginny... I was thinking about what you said last
night."
Wincing, Ginny muttered, "It was nothing. I'd rather not discuss it.
For that matter, I'd rather you not discuss it with anyone."
Hermione was almost tempted to back off then and there, but the echo of
last night's conversation wouldn't leave her in peace till she'd said
what she had to say. But the dining room was hardly the place for such
a conversation, so Hermione merely said, "Well, I still have some things
I'd like to say. But just to you. Could you meet me in Hogsmeade outside
the bookstore this afternoon?"
Ginny sighed, sensing that Hermione was not going to let this pass.
"Fine. I'll see you there around noon." Placing her fork down beside
her unfinished food, she rose unsteadily to her feet and made her way
back to the dorm, her desire for a good meal overcome by a need to spend
a few moments in peace and a longing for a nice shower and change of
clothes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione looked down at her watch, one of the remnants of her "muggle"
existence that she kept with her during the schoolyear, and waited
impatiently for Ginny to arrive. Finally, ten minutes past noon, a
familiar red bush of hair appeared in the distance. But as the figure
approached, Hermione realized with a sinking heart that it wasn't
Ginny, but Ron. And with him was none other than the boy wonder himself,
Harry Potter.
Ron saw Hermione and winced. This was not a confrontation he was looking
forward to being in the middle of, and if Ron had known how to apparate
this would have been the time for it. Instead, he plodded haplessly
behind Harry as Harry walked up to Hermione with a forlorn look in his
blue eyes. "Hello, Hermione."
Hermione looked up at Harry, trying not to flinch at his pain. They
clearly hadn't been meant for eachother, Hermione reminded herself.
The breakup was for the best. This was simply how things had to be.
But the words sounded hollow even in her mind. She knew that after
having been Harry's girlfriend, she would not be able to return to
the contented friendship of their earlier years at Hogwarts. "Hello,
Harry." She murmured. She nodded to Ron in greeting, looking at him
almost pleadingly. Get him away from here, she wanted to scream. I
can't deal with this right now. I don't want to deal with this
right now.
Ron shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another in the ensuing
silence. "Hermione... Harry and I were just headed to get some
butterbeers... would you like to join us?"
Hermione shook her head emphatically in the negative. "I'm sorry, I'm
meeting Ginny here any minute now. She needs some help with Potions,
and I'm going to help her find the right book for extra study."
Ron grinned, "Next thing you know she'll be quoting A History of
Hogwarts herself. Well, we'll leave you to it... See ya, Hermione."
He half led, half dragged Harry away before any more could be said.
When the two were out of sight, Ginny stepped out from the shadows
of the nearby trees. "You wanted to talk?" She asked quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione and Ginny walked along the path in silence, holding off
on any conversation until they were well beyond the normal lurking
spots of Hogwarts students. Settling down on a bench in an out of the
way clearing, the two looked around nervously, neither sure where
to begin.
Finally, Hermione said quietly, "Ginny, you remember what you said
last night?" The question wasn't the most sensible of things- after
all, it was firmly established that both weren't going to forget the
words of the night before anytime soon- and Ginny didn't even bother
to reply. Therefore Hermione was forced to continue, "Well, I was
thinking, and you might be right. I think I might have been denying
what I really want."
Ginny looked up at this, intrigued. "Go on, please." She whispered,
feeling the renewed beat of hope that this was to be the moment, that
finally her crush would be returned by the object of her affections.
"When I was at summer camp... I met a girl. She was a lesbian, and
she flirted with me. I flirted back, I figured it was nothing serious.
Then, after the end of camp dance, she kissed me. It was..." Even
Hermione's well refined vocabulary didn't contain the words she
required. "It was like nothing I've ever felt."
Ginny's heart fell. Somehow, this was worse than anything she had
imagined, in all her nightmares throughout the years. Hermione was
interested in girls... she just wasn't interested in Ginny. "So
this girl, who is she?" Ginny asked in monotone, feeling like she
should say something.
"Just someone." Hermione said almost dismissively. "That isn't the
point." Wringing her hands, she finally said, "I think maybe the
problem for me with Harry has been that everything about Harry isn't
right for me. And maybe... maybe there's something about you that
could be right."
Blinking, Ginny stared at Hermione in silence. Hermione dug her nails
into her hand, fearing that Ginny's reaction was one of disgust or
rejection.
Mind and heart racing, Ginny studied Hermione. Everything that was
happening was, well, too good to be real. She had to know... too
often Ginny's relationships were shortlived because the girl in
question would decide that she wasn't really a lesbian, that Ginny
wasn't really attractive to her. So now, rather than set herself
up for another heartbreak, she would take the risk now.
Leaning forward, Ginny pressed her lips against Hermione's,
drawing the older girl to her...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be Continued....
Don't kill me for the cliffhanger. :-)
Alright, I know this doesn't resolve that scene at the very end of part
III, but that's because I need to build up more background with "The Boy
Who Cried" first :-) By the way, if you are reading this and you haven't
seen any of "The Boy Who Cried" yet, please give it a shot! The two stories
are going to be connected, along with the rather warped Snape/Lockhart
fic that awaits typing- watch for that, it makes the third part of my
series altraverse and will be entitled "The Man Who Lied." Thanx... I'll try
to have the next parts of all the series in this altraverse up soon!!!
Well, thanx to everyone who reviewed The Girl Who Loved Part II...
it's reviews that keep me writing at all :-) Look for the next part
within the next two days! (Hint: The more reviews I get, the more
inspired I am to write faster :-) )
Author's Note: Some of you expressed actual annoyance when I set this
fic aside for a few days to work on my Draco/Neville companion fic,
The Boy Who Cried. So here it is... part IV of The Girl Who Loved. And
for impatient shippers, yes, the Ginny/ Hermione relationship will
start to show in this one! Just give it time... speaking from experience,
an "unusual" sexual orientation isn't the easiest thing to come to
terms with.
Disclaimer: THIS IS S-L-A-S-H! And this is where it starts to show up,
not all that physically quite yet, but if that sort of thing offends you
for whatever bigoted reason you may have, then go read something
else. Please. Otherwise, read on, and I'd love to hear from anyone
with similar tastes :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As she walked through the hallways in a sleep deprived haze, Ginny
didn't even notice the disarrayed state of her clothing or the stares
she was recieving from other students who tended to be more fastidious
about their appearance. She made her way through the halls mechanically,
her only thoughts centered on the glorious breakfast that awaited her
in the dining hall. When she entered, most of the school was already
seated, and several heads swiveled in her direction to observe her
entrance.
Still exhausted as she plopped into an empty chair at the table, Ginny
was unaware that as she had made her way from the common room the wrinkled
robes- the same ones she had slept in the night before- had come untied at
the neck and were now threatening to slip off her thin shoulders. The
straps of her lacy black bra were visible, much to the amusement of a group
of 3rd and 4th year Slytherin boys who pointed in her direction and
snickered.
As Ginny picked away at her french toast, a rather sarcastic young first
year across the table asked snidely, "Long night?" Ginny ignored her, too
tired even to come up with a suitable retort. It didn't matter if some
silly first year thought that she'd been up all night with a boyfriend,
because soon enough everyone would know that wasn't possible. Ginny could
never have been up all night with her boyfriend, because the simple fact
of the matter was that Ginny didn't like boys. And now that Ginny had let
that fact slip to Hermione, she was surprised it wasn't the talk of the
table by now.
But Ginny had underestimated Hermione. The Gryffindor prefect was currently
ushering a group of first years who couldn't be bothered even after
several months at Hogwarts to learn their way to the Dining Hall, and the
thought of revealing Ginny's secret was the furthest notion from her
mind. What *was* on Hermione's mind was her own resolve to be true to
herself. After a long night of staring blankly at textbooks, Hermione
had come to no real conclusion as to what exactly it was she wanted.
But she knew it wasn't Harry, or any of the other Gryffindor boys. And to
her mind, that left only one option.
Hermione walked with an air of confidence to the farthest end of the
Gryffindor table, brushing past her usual seat with Harry and Ron. She
did not meet Harry's gaze- she couldn't face his eyes right now, that
intense stare filled with hurt and anger that she knew was focused on
her with every step she took. Seeing an open seat next to Ginny, she set
down her bookbag and pulled out the chair quietly, sitting down before
Ginny had looked up or even noticed Hermione's presence.
When the presence of another student did finally penetrate the fog of
Ginny's exhausted mind, she looked up without interest, expecting to
see another irritating first year, come to mock her for the shame her
heart was causing her. Instead, when Ginny's eyes met those of Hermione
she sat up a little straighter in her seat, startled. Unconciously she
ran her fingers through her hair, trying to force it to stay down so
that she maintained at least some sembelance of humanity.
It was rather silly, Ginny thought to herself with a sigh. Here she
was, faced with a girl that she knew by now could never care for her,
and yet still her vanity obliged her to try to impress Hermione with
her appearance. Glancing down and finally noticing the state of her
robes, she realized with a wry smile that it was too late for that, and
in embarassment she pulled her robes closed and tried to reassemble
herself as Hermione looked at her in silence.
Hermione felt her skin heat at the sight of Ginny. It looked like the
youngest Weasley hadn't slept at all last night, and certainly the state
of her attire suggested that perhaps Ginny wasn't up to a heart to heart
discussion right now. Although she couldn't help but notice the thin
frame and perfect skin that Ginny had unwittingly left revealed, Hermione
still felt akward with the situation. When she finally spoke, it was
quiet and uncertain. "Ginny... I was thinking about what you said last
night."
Wincing, Ginny muttered, "It was nothing. I'd rather not discuss it.
For that matter, I'd rather you not discuss it with anyone."
Hermione was almost tempted to back off then and there, but the echo of
last night's conversation wouldn't leave her in peace till she'd said
what she had to say. But the dining room was hardly the place for such
a conversation, so Hermione merely said, "Well, I still have some things
I'd like to say. But just to you. Could you meet me in Hogsmeade outside
the bookstore this afternoon?"
Ginny sighed, sensing that Hermione was not going to let this pass.
"Fine. I'll see you there around noon." Placing her fork down beside
her unfinished food, she rose unsteadily to her feet and made her way
back to the dorm, her desire for a good meal overcome by a need to spend
a few moments in peace and a longing for a nice shower and change of
clothes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione looked down at her watch, one of the remnants of her "muggle"
existence that she kept with her during the schoolyear, and waited
impatiently for Ginny to arrive. Finally, ten minutes past noon, a
familiar red bush of hair appeared in the distance. But as the figure
approached, Hermione realized with a sinking heart that it wasn't
Ginny, but Ron. And with him was none other than the boy wonder himself,
Harry Potter.
Ron saw Hermione and winced. This was not a confrontation he was looking
forward to being in the middle of, and if Ron had known how to apparate
this would have been the time for it. Instead, he plodded haplessly
behind Harry as Harry walked up to Hermione with a forlorn look in his
blue eyes. "Hello, Hermione."
Hermione looked up at Harry, trying not to flinch at his pain. They
clearly hadn't been meant for eachother, Hermione reminded herself.
The breakup was for the best. This was simply how things had to be.
But the words sounded hollow even in her mind. She knew that after
having been Harry's girlfriend, she would not be able to return to
the contented friendship of their earlier years at Hogwarts. "Hello,
Harry." She murmured. She nodded to Ron in greeting, looking at him
almost pleadingly. Get him away from here, she wanted to scream. I
can't deal with this right now. I don't want to deal with this
right now.
Ron shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another in the ensuing
silence. "Hermione... Harry and I were just headed to get some
butterbeers... would you like to join us?"
Hermione shook her head emphatically in the negative. "I'm sorry, I'm
meeting Ginny here any minute now. She needs some help with Potions,
and I'm going to help her find the right book for extra study."
Ron grinned, "Next thing you know she'll be quoting A History of
Hogwarts herself. Well, we'll leave you to it... See ya, Hermione."
He half led, half dragged Harry away before any more could be said.
When the two were out of sight, Ginny stepped out from the shadows
of the nearby trees. "You wanted to talk?" She asked quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione and Ginny walked along the path in silence, holding off
on any conversation until they were well beyond the normal lurking
spots of Hogwarts students. Settling down on a bench in an out of the
way clearing, the two looked around nervously, neither sure where
to begin.
Finally, Hermione said quietly, "Ginny, you remember what you said
last night?" The question wasn't the most sensible of things- after
all, it was firmly established that both weren't going to forget the
words of the night before anytime soon- and Ginny didn't even bother
to reply. Therefore Hermione was forced to continue, "Well, I was
thinking, and you might be right. I think I might have been denying
what I really want."
Ginny looked up at this, intrigued. "Go on, please." She whispered,
feeling the renewed beat of hope that this was to be the moment, that
finally her crush would be returned by the object of her affections.
"When I was at summer camp... I met a girl. She was a lesbian, and
she flirted with me. I flirted back, I figured it was nothing serious.
Then, after the end of camp dance, she kissed me. It was..." Even
Hermione's well refined vocabulary didn't contain the words she
required. "It was like nothing I've ever felt."
Ginny's heart fell. Somehow, this was worse than anything she had
imagined, in all her nightmares throughout the years. Hermione was
interested in girls... she just wasn't interested in Ginny. "So
this girl, who is she?" Ginny asked in monotone, feeling like she
should say something.
"Just someone." Hermione said almost dismissively. "That isn't the
point." Wringing her hands, she finally said, "I think maybe the
problem for me with Harry has been that everything about Harry isn't
right for me. And maybe... maybe there's something about you that
could be right."
Blinking, Ginny stared at Hermione in silence. Hermione dug her nails
into her hand, fearing that Ginny's reaction was one of disgust or
rejection.
Mind and heart racing, Ginny studied Hermione. Everything that was
happening was, well, too good to be real. She had to know... too
often Ginny's relationships were shortlived because the girl in
question would decide that she wasn't really a lesbian, that Ginny
wasn't really attractive to her. So now, rather than set herself
up for another heartbreak, she would take the risk now.
Leaning forward, Ginny pressed her lips against Hermione's,
drawing the older girl to her...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be Continued....
Don't kill me for the cliffhanger. :-)
Alright, I know this doesn't resolve that scene at the very end of part
III, but that's because I need to build up more background with "The Boy
Who Cried" first :-) By the way, if you are reading this and you haven't
seen any of "The Boy Who Cried" yet, please give it a shot! The two stories
are going to be connected, along with the rather warped Snape/Lockhart
fic that awaits typing- watch for that, it makes the third part of my
series altraverse and will be entitled "The Man Who Lied." Thanx... I'll try
to have the next parts of all the series in this altraverse up soon!!!
Well, thanx to everyone who reviewed The Girl Who Loved Part II...
it's reviews that keep me writing at all :-) Look for the next part
within the next two days! (Hint: The more reviews I get, the more
inspired I am to write faster :-) )
