Falling into You
By Weasley is my King

Chapter Three

Ron and Hermione were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, both with a book in front of them. Actually, Hermione was reading while Ron was playing a game of wizard's chess with anyone who wanted to lose. Every so often, Hermione would look at him and roll her eyes, but it had gotten to the point that he no longer cared. She also knew that he would eventually finish his homework, with her help of course.

Generally, the two tried to avoid the topic of Harry and Ginny's relationship, whatever it may have been. They also tried to avoid the topic of Lara and Harry's relationship because it just seemed to upset Hermione, not to mention the fact that Ron didn't particularly like Lara because of the way Harry's attitude seemed to have changed upon dating her. Unfortunately for them, Lara was sitting on the other end of the couch in a tank top, which Hermione thought absurd because it was a little chilly that day, and the tightest pair of sweatpants she had ever seen.

It had been quite a while since they had seen Harry grab Ginny's wrist and drag her into the hallway. Ron had suggested they spy on them, just to see what was going on, but Hermione had shook her head and told him to begin his homework. Needless to say they didn't go. Once Lara had come down from upstairs, obviously changing her clothes, she had insisted that she sit with Ron and Hermione. She wondered aloud where her boyfriend was and then inquired where Ginny was. She had even let slip the fact that she thought Ginny was trying to steal him away from her. She had chosen to use colorful words to describe the younger Weasley. Ron clenched his fists but refrained from flying off the handle as well as physically attacking her.

Hermione calmly reasoned that of course Ginny wasn't trying to steal Harry away from her, for she had given up on him a long time ago. She also explained that it was Harry who took hold of her arm and took her to the hallway, so Ginny wasn't the least bit guilty. Lara didn't care to hear, she simply rolled her eyes.

Ginny strolled into the common room and over to the table she had been sitting at before the interruption of Lara and Harry. At first, she found it difficult to focus on her homework while her brain was still reeling from completely dominating the conversation and confronting Harry about his arrogance. To say the least, she was proud of herself. She scanned the room quickly and spotted who she was looking for. She smiled at the sight: her brother sitting next to Hermione with his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she snuggles close to him with a book in her hands; they looked so perfectly content.

"Fabulous," Lara's voice dripped with sugary sweetness, "You're back, now where's my boyfriend," she asked, making it clear that Harry was indeed her boyfriend.

Ginny smiled sweetly in return. "I don't know," she shrugged innocently, "I left him in the hallway, like, three minutes ago," she told her. "Maybe you should go look for him. His big head probably makes it hard to walk."

Lara smiled sweetly again, although visibly upset that Ginny would talk to her that way. She did nothing to deserve the way Harry's friends treated her. It was ridiculous to think that both Hermione and Ginny disliked her for no reason. She had been nothing but nice to them and yet she still received bitter sentiments from Ginny and vibes of uncertainty from Hermione. She had done nothing but include and be friendly to them and they still didn't like her. That just wouldn't do. Not at all.

Lara quickly turned on her heel and headed towards the portrait to look for Harry. With Lara gone, Hermione stood up from the couch and joined Ginny at her table.

"What are you smiling about?" Hermione asked with a smile as well. "Lara and Harry didn't break up, did they?"

Ginny laughed but shook her head. "Better," she said. "I just kicked Harry's ass."

Hermione looked concerned. "Literally?" she asked, seriously wondering if Ginny was both capable of beating him up and if she would actually do it. She came to the conclusion that Ginny was undeniably able to beat him up and with any rage or bad sentiments towards him, she would definitely beat him up.

Ginny's smile suddenly fell and her eyes showed she was concerned as well. "Oh, of course not," she shook her head. "I just told him he was… a little bit too… confident?"

"Oh, Ginny," Hermione said, looking sad. "What did you say to him?"

Ginny picked up her quill and looked down at her homework. "Don't worry about it, Hermione." She then turned a page in the book that was in front of her. "you know, I thought you'd be the one person who would actually agree with me saying something to him; don't you think he's conceited?"

Hermione looked at Ron quickly and then at the book in front of Ginny. "Lately, I do have to agree with you. He has been rather… arrogant."

"Thank you," she muttered.

There seemed to be an awkward silence looming in the air around them. They rarely had these moments, and it made both of them uncomfortable to have created that silence. Hermione remembered that she had been meaning to tell Ginny something from the party the previous weekend. She remembered that Ginny had disappeared for a couple hours only returning to say goodnight to everyone. This was it, this was what Hermione had wanted to talk to Ginny about in the first place. Now was a perfect time to do so.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you something," Hermione offered. Ginny looked up and dropped her quill. She looked at Hermione expectedly; her eyebrows were arched and she had a hint of a smile on her face. "Dean Thomas was looking for you on Saturday night."

"Dean Thomas my ex-boyfriend Dean Thomas?" Ginny asked, her smile fading.

"How many other Dean Thomases do you know?" Hermione asked jokingly. "I just thought I'd tell you because he said something about you looking lovely and whether or not I had seen you because he had been looking for you for a while and wanted to talk to you."

"Dean and I?" Ginny asked, her nose wrinkled a little bit. "Again? Do you think that's a good idea?"

Hermione looked at Ron longingly inadvertently. Ginny smiled and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. She cleared her throat, trying to gently recapture her attention. Hermione snapped back to reality and smiled.

"Don't you miss that?" Hermione asked softly.

Ginny thought for a moment. She did miss looking at someone with such adoration and knowing that the other would look back the same way. If Ginny had a favorite boyfriend, it would have been Dean. He was always considerate of Ginny and made it known he loved being around her. She shook her head, getting back to her original question. Whether or not she missed being part of a relationship was not the question. The question was whether or not she and Dean would work again. The question was if it did happen, how would it work because she was still so wrapped up about Harry.

"That's beside the point, Hermione," Ginny said, placing her hands in her lap. "The point is that I'm not sure Dean and I could work."

Hermione looked shocked. "Of course you guys could work!" she exclaimed. "He adores you!"

Ginny bit her lip. She couldn't keep the secret any longer. Hermione was one of the very, very few people she could actually talk to about personal issues. She surprised herself by the amount of time she had kept the fact that she had feelings for Harry again to herself for so long.

"I'm gonna tell you something very important and you've got to swear you won't tell as soul," Ginny whispered, leaning across the table to get closer to Hermione. Hermione's eyes widened and she too leaned in.

"What is it?"

"This is absolutely ridiculous, but I can't keep it to myself anymore," she explained, "I'm completely head-over-heels for Harry again."

Hermione's smile fell immediately as she leaned back in her chair. Okay, so that wasn't the reaction Ginny had been hoping for. It was okay, though, people didn't have to jump with joy upon hearing news like that. It would have been nice if she had been excited, but then again, you can't win them all. Ginny sighed and shook her head. When Hermione didn't say anything right away, Ginny leaned back in her chair and pulled her long red hair up into a messy ponytail.

Hermione finally spoke. "You're not serious," she stated, hoping that if she said it, it would make it come true.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes I'm serious, Hermione." She sighed heavily. "And seeing he and Lara together is driving me mad. I don't know what to do."

Hermione ran a hand through her wavy brown hair. She shot one more glance towards Ron, who was now sitting with Dean Thomas. She leaned in close to Ginny and spoke very softly. "I can't believe I'm about to say this because it is my firm belief that you can make yourself happy, but you've gotta get yourself a boyfriend, if for nothing else to keep your mind off of Harry." She paused for a moment, "He's with Lara right now whether we like it or not. She could have sprouted devil horns and he wouldn't see it. I am telling you to give Dean another chance."

Ginny's jaw dropped.

"Hear me out, Gin," she reasoned, "Dean's a good mate and he adores you. Give him another chance, and if I know Harry, it'll drive him mad." That's when Ginny smiled. "Don't smile like that, you're not going to date Dean to make him jealous-"

"It'll just be a bonus," Ginny interjected.

"Exactly," Hermione nodded with a proud smile. "Wait, no! You need to take your mind off of Harry and Lara, and if you have someone to occupy your time, it'll achieve that goal." She paused again. "I'm finished with this conversation."

Ginny was quiet for a moment, and then a coy smiled appeared on her face. "Thank you for this, Hermione."

.:x:.

Author's Note: Please review! I wanted to thank y'all for all of your comments and I really appreciate all of your reviews. Thank you in advance! kate