BITTERSWEET

Chapter 2: Accident

September 1997

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on the floor of the train, rolling with laughter when Ginny opened the door to their compartment. She debated walking in, questioning their sanity for a moment, then decided to go ahead and enter.

"Hi, Hermione!" she exclaimed, choosing to address the least crazy of the trio. The three sixth years immediately sat up and got back in their seats, trying to pretend Ginny hadn't just seen them acting like hyenas.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, reaching over to hug her as Ginny sat down next to her, across from Harry and Ron. "I haven't seen you in months! Wow, you look great." It was true—Ginny had matured quite a bit in the past few months, both physically and emotionally. She had grown out her red hair until it reached her waist, and it appeared to have a slight wave that made it all the more luxurious. Now a blossoming sixteen-year-old, she was beginning to attract more attention than Ron would have liked.

Hermione hid a grin as she noticed that one boy in particular seemed to be captivated by Ginny's newly found charm. Harry had always been remarkably thick when it came to girls. He and Ron didn't even seem to realize that she was a member of the female population until Viktor had asked her to the Yule Ball. Then, Ginny had fancied him since she first met him, but Harry didn't figure out that she was someone other than his best friend's sister until she had moved on.

Hermione caught the furtive glances Harry and Ginny kept darting at each other and wondered what, if anything, had taken place at the Burrow that summer between the two of them. "Hey, Ginny, are you going out with anyone right now?" she asked curiously.

"No." Ginny replied shortly.

"But, wait, I thought you said you were with—" Ron started.

"Dean dumped me near the beginning of the summer after he met some foreign girl over the holidays," she said.

Harry perked up a bit at this information, and Hermione wondered what he had been doing all summer to just now find out. She was sure Ginny hadn't made any special effort to conceal her love life from her oblivious older brothers.

"Why—that bloke—I'll pound him!" Ron sputtered outrageously. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Ron, Ginny's not a child anymore. She can handle her romances herself," Hermione said gently.

"You're right." Ron brightened. "At least now you're free to go out with someone better suited to you," he said, sending an odd look in Harry's direction.

Ginny bit her lower lip, and looked thoughtful. Hermione was the only on to notice the spark of mischief in her eyes. "Any hints on who you think that might be?" Ginny asked, smiling sweetly at her older brother.

Ron darted another look in Harry's direction, the tips of his ears turning a bright red color that blended nicely with his hair. "Ummm... well," he started.

Hermione caught on to what Ginny was doing and flashed Ron a wide grin. "Do enlighten us, Ron. Who do you think Ginny should go out with?" By now Ron looked as if he wished he were anywhere but on the train with them. He was determinedly trying to ignore Harry's curious glances, and stared up at the ceiling, hoping the answer would magically appear before his eyes.

Ginny caught Hermione's eye and winked. Apparently she wasn't quite over Harry yet. Schoolgirl crushes die hard, and Hermione was starting to think that Ginny's obsession with Harry hadn't stopped, but she had instead matured enough to know how to get him, and have some fun with other guys while she was doing it. All it took for Harry to come around and notice Ginny was the fact that there were other guys in his year that fancied her as well.

Harry had always assumed that Ginny would follow him around forever, and just thought of her like a little sister. But now that she was dating, she seemed to develop some inner spark of confidence that made him see her as the girl she really was. Hermione understood this about him, and decided it was time for him to come to his senses and ask Ginny out.

"Harry," she cooed, winking back at Ginny, "I think Ron needs some help. Who do you think Ginny should go out with?" His face flushed and he looked frantically at Ron, a trapped look on his face. Ron only looked glad for the attention to be off him.

Harry muttered something inaudible under his breath, then looked at Hermione with a pleading expression. She decided to let him off easy this time, but made a mental note to make him suffer about this later.

"I think you know who Ginny should go out with, but you want her to figure it out for herself, is that right Harry?" she asked him. The relief on his face showed clearly. "Er, yeah, that's it. I mean, she's sixteen, isn't she? That's old enough to know whom she wants to go out with," he said quickly.

Ginny hid a grin, extremely amused by the whole situation. Of course she knew that Harry was starting to like her. She had never stopped liking him, but just decided to have some fun with other guys until he noticed her. Now she wondered if he actually possessed the "famous Gryffindor courage" everyone said he had, since he didn't seem very brave when it came to asking girls out. She figured that if they were ever going to get anywhere she would have to be the one to make the first move, now that she knew she had a good chance with him. He would probably just be relieved that he didn't have to guess about her feelings for him before asking her out.

"Let me know when the two of you reach a decision about my love life, okay?" she said, addressing Harry and Ron. The two guys looked helplessly at each other. "But in the meantime..." Ginny started, smiling mischievously. "I haven't gone out with many boys in the past, and it wouldn't do for you two to finally choose a boy for me if I were inexperienced, would it?" She got up and walked over to Harry, sitting down on his lap. "I better get some practice, what do you say?"

Harry looked at her with wide eyes, amazed that he had one of the most beautiful girls at Hogwarts on his lap. Ron was gaping, incredulous that his baby sister was hitting on one of his best friends. Hermione was the only one relatively unsurprised (albeit a little impressed that Ginny was daring enough to do this)—she had always assumed that Ginny would do something like this once she became more confident with herself. Hermione knew that all Ginny and Harry needed were a push in the right direction, and they would take care of the rest and get together like they were meant to.

Harry, hoping that none of this was a dream, decided to just go for it and leaned down to gently press his lips against Ginny's. She responded eagerly, having hoped for this since before she started at Hogwarts.

"It's okay, Ron," Hermione said softly, trying to reassure her best friend. "She's not a baby anymore."

"But... he... she... them!" he stuttered, unbelieving that the two of them would do this in front of him and Hermione.

"Isn't Harry the best person you could have hoped for to date Ginny?" she asked.

"Well, yes," he replied slowly. "But still..." He threw a glance over to the corner next to him where Harry and Ginny were now in a full-fledged snogging session. Hermione grinned. She was about to respond, when a slow drawl was heard from the door of their compartment.

"Isn't that nice—scarhead and the youngest weasel. Trying to earn a bit of money for your family, is that it Ginny? How much would it cost me?" Draco Malfoy leaned against the doorway to their train compartment, a cocky smirk on his face as Harry and Ginny broke apart, an angry red blush creeping up both of their faces.

"Don't you talk about my sister like that," Ron growled, getting to his feet.

"Ron, don't!" Hermione said urgently. "You know we're not supposed to fight."

Draco turned his ice-blue gaze to look at her. He whistled under his breath, a strand of his pale blond hair falling into his eyes. "Damn, Granger. What happened this summer? If you weren't such a filthy mudblood you might stand a chance with me—I only use the best." He winked at her, then turned back to face Ron, who was now only being held back by Harry, who looked as if he wanted to pound Draco himself.

It was true, though. Hermione had matured a lot over the summer. She was no longer just the bookworm with bushy hair--her curves had filled out quite a bit, and along with a new tan and sleeker hair thanks to the care she'd been giving it, Hermione was becoming downright gorgeous.

She had turned a few heads while boarding the train, people checking her out that had before only thought of her as the smart bookworm. Harry and Ron didn't notice, but that was okay because they had known her for so long they didn't need to pay attention to her looks anymore. She had a best friend relationship with the two of them, and her only regret about Hogwarts was that there was no one she cared about impressing. In her opinion, none of the boys were worth dreaming about.

Unfortunately, Draco had to comment about her new looks. Trust him to turn everything into some new way to insult her.

"Not another word, Malfoy," Harry threatened.

"You couldn't stop me if you tried, Potter."

"No, but I can," Hermione retorted, pulling out her wand.

"Accio wand," Draco said, lazily flicking his wand to unarm Hermione. He stepped closer to her, backing her up against the wall. "Not so strong now, are you Granger?" he breathed. "I have your wand, and those two bodyguards of yours wouldn't stand a chance against me."

She looked scared, now. Ron and Harry moved forward as if to pull him away, but he pointed his wand back and muttered a spell under his breath. An invisible wall appeared, stopping Harry and Ron from reaching them. They still could hear every word he said, but couldn't get close enough to fight him.

"You're on your own, Granger. What are you going to do?" he drawled.

"You could never be a match for me, ferret boy," she spat out, sliding to the side and yanking her wand out of Draco's grasp in one fluid motion. With his concentration broken, the wall disappeared and Harry and Ron rushed to Hermione's aid. She held up to wand to hex Draco, taking a step back as she began the spell. Not knowing that Hedwig's cage was behind her, she lost her balance, flailing wildly for one short moment before she started to fall forward. Her hand was reaching up to the delicate gold chain on her neck, when she hit the ground. There was a smashing sound, and Hermione disappeared.

Ginny screamed, and Ron lunged for Draco. "What. Have. You. Done." he growled, his fist stopping inches short from Draco's face because of Ginny's hand reaching out to grab his arm and pull it back.

"No, Ron, it couldn't have been him! He didn't even have his wand out!" she said excitedly, starting to panic.

"Then what happened to her?" he asked.

Draco had stepped forward to the spot Hermione was when she vanished. He held up a shard of glass with a few sparkling grains of sand resting on it, his face grim. "Granger had a time-turner?" he asked.

Ron and Harry both nodded. "It was for her classes, because she was taking too many to fit into a normal day," Harry spoke up.

"She was wearing it when she fell, and it smashed when she hit the ground," Draco said. Harry, Ron, and Ginny's faces all paled.

"So..." Ron began, leaving the question unasked.

"Yes," Draco responded. "She's gone back through time."