The next afternoon, Hermione found Ginny sitting outside under a tree. She was reading what looked to be a romance novel .
"Hey." Ginny looked up at Hermione's voice.
"Oh, hi." She closed the book, keeping her place with her finger.
"So... uh... what are you reading?" Hermione asked.
Ginny blushed. "Fleur gave it to me... for Christmas," she explained, muttering a disillusion charm at the book and handing it to Hermione. The cover shifted until it showed two girls in school robes, smiling at each other. Hermione didn't bother to read the title before handing it back to Ginny, who immediately restored the illusion she had on the cover.
"Er... how are you doing?"
Ginny shrugged. "Okay, I guess."
"Have you thought about, you know, coming out to anyone else?" Hermione asked, not bothering with subtlety.
Ginny looked away. "Well... not really."
"So you're not going to tell Harry or Ron?"
"No," Ginny snapped. "I'm not telling them, okay? I'm not telling anyone else just yet."
"Can I at least tell Victor?"
"No!" Hermione blinked in surprise at the girl's vehemence. "You're not telling anyone. Especially not some dip shit quidditch player I've barely even met."
Hermione stared at Ginny in confusion. What was wrong with her telling Victor? What on Earth was Ginny afraid of?
Ginny took a deep breath, looking at Hermione pleadingly. "Please, don't tell anyone. Promise you won't say anything." Something about the vulnerable, desperate helplessness and fear in her voice and eyes made Hermione sigh and nod.
"I won't say anything."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Ginny relaxed and gave a slight smile. "Thanks."
"I still think you should tell someone else."
Ginny bit her lip. "No. Not yet."
"Why not?" Hermione asked in exasperation.
"Because... I can't. Do you have any idea how much it took for me to tell you? How scared I was?"
Hermione shook her head. "But now you've told me so it should be easier the next time, right?"
"You don't understand! You don't get it. But how could you? You don't know... It isn't that easy. I can't just waltz up to some random person and say 'hi, I'm gay. How are you?' It isn't that simple."
"Why not?"
Ginny leaned her head against the tree, closing her eyes. "It just isn't. And since it took me 15 years to come out the first time, if I tell anyone else by the time I'm 30, I'll be making progress."
Hermione stared at Ginny, appalled. "Then I hope you don't plan on dating until you're 30," she spat in disgust and walked away.
If she had looked back, she would have seen Ginny staring after her, tears rolling down her face.
After that, there was a tension between Hermione and Ginny. Hermione didn't bring up the subject again, but she still didn't understand why it was such a big deal for Ginny.
But as she neared the end of her sixth year and with it countless end of year projects and tests, Hermione became too caught up in schoolwork to dwell on Ginny.
The end of school arrived before Hermione knew it and she found herself reluctant to go home. She loved school, loved having a regular schedule and classes and deadlines and homework. She liked living with her friends, as tedious as they might get at times. Back home, all that was gone. Back home there was no magic and no friends or classes or teachers. But most of all, back home were her parents, her family, and more than anything she didn't want to be reminded of how distant she had grown from them.
She boarded the Hogwarts Express behind her friends with a smile. They found an empty compartment and Hermione took a seat by the window. Harry sat next to her. It was a warm day and the landscape rushing by outside was beautiful, full of life. She wished she felt as joyous.
"You look tense," Harry said softly, glancing at her with concern. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," Hermione replied with a forced smile. "I'm just worried because Voldemort hasn't done anything yet this year."
The three of them had spent the last few weeks of school anticipating some sort of attack from him and were somewhat worried by the fact that they had hardly heard of him for the entire year, so it wasn't exactly a lie.
Harry sighed, squeezing her hand. "It'll be alright."
She nodded. "I know. I'm just nervous, that's all."
"Are you sure that's all?" Ron asked. "I mean, you haven't been spending much time with Ginny lately. Did you have a fight or something?"
Hermione looked away. "No. We've just both been busy lately... She had to study for her OWLs, you know."
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but just then the teacart came and the boys stuffed their mouths with sweets.
Hermione took out a book and immersed herself in its pages for the rest of the journey.
At platform 9 ¾, Hermione said good-bye to Harry and Ron, promising to write and walked over to her parents.
A/N: Silver-nex: But if that happens, niether of them would be gay... Doesn't that sort of defeat the point of the whole story? Anasazi: Thanks. Draco's a pretty freaky guy... Kashiaga: Hehe... just wait till she finds out Draco actually is gay. And you'll know who Ginny'll end up with in another two or three chapters (hopefully)... No, it's not going to be Hermione. Sorry guys. Originally it was supposed to be Hr/G, but then I decided it would be more interesting to keep Hermione straight.