*'Ginny & Harry's Plot'*
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its characters, and the whole Hogwarts deal isn't mine; it belongs to the wonderfully gifted J.K. Rowling. So, all I've done is this story that I honestly hope you enjoy!
Short Summary: Ginny and Harry create a plot to set up their two stubborn friends, but they realize something else along the way
PG: for possible MILD language (Ron's mouth...in this chapter, but Hermione corrects him.)
.::fic by AngelwingS::.
*Chapter 5: First Date*
Chapter Summary: Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione's first date.
*'Ginny & Harry's Plot'*
"Can you see anything?" Harry asked tentatively to a blindfolded and very excited Ginny.
He was very pleased with how the day was going along. First of all, the girls seemed thoroughly happy that Harry and Ron had taken the time to plan out their own little date, and weren't at all displeased that their date would be receiving such drastic changes.
They had woken up early enough to be sure that would look "decent" (which could easily be called an understatement because in reality, they had spent a great deal more time in front of the mirror than what they were accustomed to) and to be in the common room before Hermione and Ginny so that they could greet them. The girls appeared to notice their efforts and practically smiled immediately when they saw them waiting at the end of the stair case. Their faces lit up even more brilliantly when Harry and Ron told them that the date to Hogsmeade had been "rearranged" and that, if the two didn't mind, they would be staying at Hogwarts that evening.
Ron watched as Ginny nodded cheerfully in reply to Harry's question and looked at Hermione. He smiled and handed her a soft, scarlet blindfold, "You should put this on."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but a smirk was turning up on her lips when she said, "You make a horrible boyfriend, you know."
"I apologize," Ron laughed, tying the blindfold carefully around her head. Inside he was a mess, trying to not notice how pretty his best friend look, the way her eyes were sparkling, and how he could feel a certain something every time he touched her.
She smiled back at him, which only made his task harder as he tried to disregard just how much he loved to her smile. He wasn't entirely sure why he was continued to avoid such thoughts; his chat with Harry about Hermione had made his feelings so unmistakable that even he found it nearly impossible, and entirely impractical, to deny having any feelings for her.
Didn't get to see her like a girl, didn't get to treat her like a girl... Harry's words continued to ring perpetually in his mind. Ron knew that he could treat her like a girl now that he was pretending to be her boyfriend, but he didn't.
Ron Weasley was scared.
He was afraid of one of his own friends, terrified of falling any harder for one witch he doubt he could ever truly call "his." For one thing, he imagined Hermione would scrunch up her nose at the idea of being called anyone's something, and for another, she had probably already categorized a romantic relationship between her and Ron as "altogether impractical." Hermione wouldn't permit herself to fall for one of her best friends; it would be complicated, risky, and illogical, and she was definitely not illogical. Unfortunately for Ron, Hermione Granger was an exceedingly logical person.
Hermione must have stiffened slightly while he was tying the blindfold, Ron noticed, because a weak sigh escaped once he had stopped.
"How are Harry and Ginny doing?" She whispered to him.
Ron looked over. Harry had wrapped one arm around Ginny's waist and used the other to take her hand, and appeared to be whispering something to her. Both looked considerably blissful.
"They look like a couple," he muttered truthfully. They did; Harry and Ginny looked much more like a couple than Hermione and Ron.
Hermione reached out blindly for his hand and gave it a minute squeeze once she had grasped it. "Are you alright?" she whispered concernedly.
Ron sighed and replied laconically, "Sure." Mimicking Harry, he placed his free arm around her slender waist; he instantly apprehended just how difficult it would be to lead her from the Great Hall to the location where he and Harry had set-up for their date. He didn't know how he could ignore the sweet smell of Hermione that seemed to pervade his nostrils and even his own thoughts.
Harry coughed; Ron looked automatically over at him and hoped fervently that he hadn't been to so apparently oblivious to reality. When Harry smirked smugly, though, Ron dejectedly became well aware he had.
"Ready to go?" Ginny asked expectantly.
Ron nodded despite the fact that neither girl could see him, and Harry replied teasingly, "Yeah, but do you trust us to lead you out safely?"
Ginny nodded eagerly, but Hermione hesitated.
"You don't trust me?" Ron gasped, attempting to sound utterly and incredibly hurt.
"Oh, I don't think you'd ever intentionally hurt me, but..." she trailed off. After a brief silence, she eventually said, "Oh, I suppose I must trust you, mustn't I?"
Harry laughed vaguely; Ron shrugged though his face was unreadable. Ginny, on the other hand, couldn't help but think that there was more to the Hermione's statement than what she was letting on.
The walk seemed so much more prolonged than Ron had anticipated, and the fact that Harry and Ginny appeared to be lost amongst themselves and somewhat ignoring their other friends did not help the situation, in Ron's opinion.
With one hand still in Ron's and the other fiddling with a loose strand of her hair, Hermione was the first to attempt conversation. "Ginny and Harry sound happy," she whispered. "What do you think?"
Ron didn't notice that he was winding his arm more tightly around Hermione, as if hold onto her for comfort as a child does with a stuffed toy. "I think," he said under his breath, "my best friend fancies my little sister after all."
They were quiescent for a moment until Hermione said softly, "I'm ever so sorry, Ron."
"Why?" questioned Ron, eyebrows furrowed.
"I should have never brought you into this," she blurted as though reprimanding herself, "I knew you'd be uncomfortable, I told Ginny, but -"
"Don't worry about it," Ron whispered, gently squeezing her hand in reassurance. Silence overcame then once again; he was leading her unhurriedly, careful to prevent her from tripping or running into anything. Reaching a closed set of doors, Ron was about to let go of his hold around Hermione (suddenly feeling reluctant to do so) to reach for his wand, but he discovered Harry had already magicked them open before his own hand had had a chance to retreat very far from Hermione's waist. He must have done so quickly, Ron noted, because he hadn't even seen Harry's arm leave Ginny. Such occurrences remained for the entire walk.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as Harry and Ginny leaned into each other to whisper and as grins spread in somewhat shy manners across their faces. It was evident by how happy they looked that there was most definitely something between them.
Reseting his complete focus on the course before him, he said to Hermione,"I reckon it might be a little selfish of me to not accept it."
"You mean, Harry and Ginny?"
"Yeah." Without thinking, he breathed in a bit of Hermione before he admitted, "I didn't realize how happy they are together."
"Still," Hermione said, apologetically, "You didn't have to come..."
"You certainly couldn't have come alone," Ron said matter-of-factly.
Hermione whispered angrily, "Ron, I am not entirely incapable of finding myself a date!"
Ron frowned; he knew precisely how right she was. The real problem wasn't that Hermione would go alone, but that he didn't want Hermione to be with anyone else. "I know," he grumbled.
"You might think I'm just a smarty know-it-all, but some people might think a bit more positively of me," she rambled defensively.
"I just think you're pretty damn brilliant."
Hermione could feel her cheeks grow hot, however, she still managed to demand stoutly, "Ron, don't use vulgar language."
"I apologize."
They were crossing the grounds when, without warning, comprehension hit Ron. He had been leaning down to talk with Hermione and their faces were noticeably close. He quickly straightened himself and relaxed his grasp, only holding her enough to efficiently guide her to where Harry and he had arranged the date.
Unlike Harry and Ginny, the pair remained in silence until they arrived at a grassy, shaded area that lay below a rather massive tree and that was adjacent to the relatively tranquil lake; it was the place Harry and Ron had decided to host their picnic. Four plates of simple, though delicious, looking food and four evenly filled goblets were arranged neatly on the shimmery picnic blanket that slowly faded into varied colors.
Harry caught Ron's eye and winked, their signal to untie the blindfolds; they heeded the girls to keep their eyes closed as they undid the ties.
Once both blindfolds were removed, Harry was the one to say, "You can open them now."
Hermione gasped, looking at the setting before her. Ginny's eyes were wide and glistening, and she said softly, "It's so beautiful."
Ginny was right; it was a wonderfully beautiful scene. The sun was low in the sky, painting soft clouds with lavender, golden, orchid, pink, and peach hues. The majesty of its warm, golden center illuminated the periwinkle sky, which lay visible behind the picturesque wisps of clouds as it deepened into a richer blue while day drifted into night. Such a captivating art clearly set a most perfect setting for their date that evening.
There was little conversation during the dinner, but the atmosphere contained a very serene air. That is, until Harry unexpectedly rested himself comfortably against the tree and held out his hand to Ginny who willingly took it and scooted over so that she had situated herself very nicely in Harry's arms. Harry prefered her there. She not only seemed to fit so perfectly there, but also somehow provided him with an eminent sense of calm, and he wasn't sure why he'd want to give that up.
"So you like it?" Harry asked, holding her close
"It's perfect," Ginny said sweetly, her bright brown eyes twinkling in the dim light. Harry smiled, thinking that she looked positively breathtaking; he had been right, the sunset brilliantly showed off her hair that would be occasionally swept up in wisps by the placid wind.
"I hoped you would think so," he said, absent mindly playing with a strand of her auburn hair.
Ginny couldn't help but observe how incredible she felt with Harry; it was different than what she had romanticized about when she was younger, but just as extraordinary. She unwilling, though consistently, reminded herself that it was just a staged performance, something they had to do for Ron and Hermione, and Harry and herself just happened to be better actors than the other two. Soon, she told herself, things would be back to normal between her and Harry, and such ideas would once return to be merely dreams.
She closed her eyes, hoping to lose the dejected feeling that was beginning to overwhelm her and transfered her concerns elsewhere. "I feel sort of bad," she mumbled.
Harry asked curiously, "Why?"
"We've been leaving Ron and Hermione on their own all evening..." she spoke quietly so that Ron and Hermione couldn't hear.
"Oh," said Harry, slightly smirking. Then, he opened his mouth and said in a more ample voice, "You know, I don't think Ron has put a move on Hermione all evening. You'd think that after becoming a couple, he'd be able to pluck up the courage to do something."
Ginny tried to stifle her giggles by burying her head into Harry's shoulder which was shaking in his efforts to control his own laughter.
Ron and Hermione didn't eye one another, but it was very trying task for both to not since they had each heard Harry's remark and now desired to see the other's expression. Finally, Hermione scooted feebly towards Ron. He, in response, muttered, "He's right, you know," and scooted himself towards Hermione, who had her eyes focused intently on the sunset. While their movements had occluded the space between them, his instincts insisted that it wasn't quite enough, and he somehow found his arm wrapping around her for the second time in one day. He was exceptionally glad that Ginny and Harry were watching the sunset and not him; they probably would have given him one of those knowing looks that caused him to scowl and his ears to turn violently crimson.
He felt Hermione shift slightly, and she placed her head effortlessly on his shoulder, and with that simple movement he finally understood that his sentiments had progressed from the familiar friendship into something more.
"This is truly lovely," he heard her whisper.
"I thought you might like it," he said gently, looking down onto her in revelation of how beautiful she really was and how she didn't need to make herself up all fancy for it to shine through.
Her head lifted up so that she was staring him directly in the eyes when she said, "Thank you, Ron."
He would have asked her "What for?" or made some sort of response if he hadn't looked at her lips right then and there. Without even thinking about it, he found himself leaning down towards her, and when his eyes met hers again, he saw they were searching his own unsurely, questioningly until her eyelids flickered shut and his own thoughtlessly did likewise. And they kissed.
Both eyes were still closed and their lips remained only inches apart when the kiss softly broke. However, in a fleeting instant, realization coldly flooded back to Hermione and she jumped away, startling Ron.
"I - You - I-I, I have to go," Hermione stuttered, standing up and walking unnaturally quickly away.
Ron sat alone disbelieving and ran a hand aggressively through his hair, disheveling it. After a while, he abruptly stood up and ran decidedly after her.
He caught up with her quickly, and to his astonishment, she halted when he called out her name.
As she turned to face him, he saw her eyes met his with the same searching expression that had hypnotized him previously. It was as though they were asking a question, but he didn't know how to reply. Fortunately, Hermione was the first to speak.
"What just happened?
"Hermione, I'm sorry..."
"Ron..."
Ron ran a hand fiercely threw his hair, not knowing how to put his thoughts together, much less speak them. He only managed to sputter, "I think... Hermione, I think I just crossed that -line- between friendship and... and something else. I'm sorry, Hermione, I don't know how easily I can go back."
A/N: Soo...? Did you like this chapter? *Sorry it took so long to post -_-'* SoOoO I still don't know what to post the last chapter as ...the story is told mostly in the P.O.V. of Harry or Ginny but I think it focuses more on the relationship of Hermione and Ron....maybe I'll post half a day under Harry/Ginny and then keep it under Ron/Hermione. ..HmMmM..
Thanks: Hal: for betaing once more, what would I do w/o you?? and Melodi for partly betaing ^^ haha... I know you're really busy SoOoO...yeah. and EVERYONE that reviewed!!! You all are the only reason I continue posting!