A/N: For those of you that are worried this is going to turn into an H/Hr ship, believe me that will not happen.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: From Bad To Worse
Ginny wasn't sure what had made her agree to do an interview with Lavender for her Gryffin Life documentary. The documentary was only supposed to include the sixth year Gryffindors, so she was caught off guard when the older girl had approached her and asked if she would participate. At the time, Ginny hadn't been able to see why Lavender would want to include her, but the older girl had reasoned that Ginny spent quite a lot of time hanging around the sixth years and that it would provide both a valuable and different viewpoint to the documentary. Ginny had agreed to do it, though she had not known at the time what she would be getting herself into.
"There's only a year age difference between you and Ron," Lavender was saying, "has that helped you to remain close as siblings?"
Ginny gave a small laugh. "Well, it hasn't stopped him from being one of the biggest prats I know," she said, smiling at the thought of what Ron would say if he ever watched this. "But seriously, I think that out of all of my brother's I'm closest with Ron, not just because of age but because we understand each other the best."
"I know they're stuck in a row right now, but what do you think about the way Ron and Hermione's relationship has changed?
Ginny paused a moment before answering. It was no secret what had transpired at Hogsmeade, and now the rumors were flying about her brother and Hermione's relationship. Not speaking to each other was doing little to diminish the question that Harry had something to do with it. "I know he's been mad about her for ages, but was always too thickheaded to do anything about it," she finally said. "It's that same Weasley stubbornness that's keeping them apart right now. If he would just talk to her he would see she's just as in love with him as he is with her."
"What about Harry?" Lavender questioned. "He's pretty much the reason they aren't speaking, isn't he?"
Ginny frowned, briefly wondering how many of the rumours running rampant through the school the older Gryffindor had been responsible for. "I can't speak for him, but I don't think he wouldn't have kissed Hermione if he had known there was something going on between the two of them. He's not like that."
"Then how do you explain what happened with Cho Chang?" The older girl inquired.
Ginny should have seen that question coming. Once the incident at Hogsmeade had become common knowledge throughout the school, Cho had told Michael that she had been seeing Harry. Of course Michael had confronted Harry on the way to class one morning. Needless to say it had only added more fuel to the gossip already flying around Hogwarts. Fortunately the confrontation was broken up by Professor McGonagall before Michael could do little else but curse Harry out in front of a good portion of the school.
"It was different with Cho," she said after careful consideration. "Harry didn't know my brother and Hermione were together. With Cho, they both knew what they were doing. I think the only reason she told Michael was to use it as a way to get back at Harry."
Lavender nodded interestingly, seeming to accept her answer. "What about you? Is there anyone special in your life?"
"There was Michael Corner last year, but that didn't last, and I was seeing Dean Thomas over the summer but we broke up back in September."
"What about Harry Potter?"
Ginny felt her face go warm. "What about Harry?"
"It's common knowledge that you used to idolize him," said Lavender. "So did anything ever develop between you two?"
"Harry and I are just friends," she adamantly, not sure why she was getting defensive.
"He was the one who rescued you from the Chamber of Secrets back in your first year, correct?"
"Yes, that was him," she said nodding.
"Not many people know the truth about what happened down there, or about Tom Riddle's diary in general. Do you want to talk about it?"
Ginny shifted uncomfortably in the armchair she was sitting in. "Professor Dumbledore had always encouraged me to talk about what happened, even if it was only with him, but I never took him up on that offer. I don't know, I suppose I thought that if I didn't talk about it no one else would. Of course that never happened, but when you're eleven you think like that."
"How do you think your experience with the Chamber of Secrets has changed you?"
"I suppose who I am today has a lot to do with what happened back then. I had a lot of trouble making friends with the other students in my year. No one wants to be friends with someone who had been possessed by You-Know-Who and set a basilisk on other students. I started hanging around my brother Ron more, and that's probably what started me hanging around the Gryffindors a year above me. For some reason it didn't seem to bother them as much what I had done."
"How did your family react?"
"In the beginning, I know they were just as frightened of me as I was of myself," Ginny admitted to her. "All I wanted was for them to trust me again. It took a long time but it happened. For a while, my mum was even contemplating pulling me out Hogwarts."
"What changed her mind?"
"Ron did," she answered, remembering it clearly. "He promised he would look out for me at school."
"What do you think now that You-Know-Who's back?"
She shrugged to buy herself some time to think about the question. "Everyone's saying this is the second war, and I think a lot of innocent people are going to die before this is over. It took long enough for the Ministry to take seriously what Dumbledore and Harry had been saying all along."
"Speaking of the ministry," Lavender started, looking down at her notes, "most people are saying Fudge's days are numbers. Your father's name has actually been mentioned several times in the Daily Prophet as a possible candidate for the next Minister of Magic. What do you think of that?"
She beamed. "Dad deserves it. I don't think he had ever considered himself for the job, let alone that anyone would even want him to run. He hasn't really said much about it though."
Lavender nodded. "Back to You-Know-Who – there's a lot of talk going around about him and Harry, but I'd like to hear what you think. Do you believe Harry will be the one to stop him?"
"Yes," she replied unwaveringly. She was shocked at how quickly she had come to that conclusion. She hadn't even given it any real consideration before answering. "I mean he's the only person to ever survive the killing curse and he was just a baby. I think Harry knows too he'll have to be the one to stop him in the end."
Lavender stood up and turned off the camera. "Thanks, Ginny. I might need to ask you a few more questions later on when Pavarti and I edit this, but you were really good – really open and honest."
Ginny was just grateful that it was over. She had not anticipated the questioning would turn to when she had been controlled by Tom Riddle. Those were memories better left locked away. She hoped Lavender would cut a lot of it out. She didn't want to have to deal with the pitying looks being thrown her way just like after the first time it had happened. She especially hoped the last part would be cut out. She wasn't sure how Harry would react to her saying he would be responsible for bringing down the Dark Lord. He hated being painted as a hero, but that's not why she had said it. She had said it because it was what she honestly believed.
Once her interview for Gryffin Life was over, Ginny headed for the small kitchen area built opposite her muggle studies classroom. The kitchen was of simple muggle design and its use was intended for those enrolled in the muggle studies course. For her mid term project she was supposed to make a traditional muggle meal and present it to her professor first thing Monday morning. The time slot that had been made available to her was Sunday morning until noon. By the looks of it, it was going to take a miracle for her to finish during her allotted time.
She sighed at the mess in front of her that was supposed to be a roast beef dinner. The potatoes were way over cooked, and so was the roast. The only difference was the outside of the roast was blackened to a crisp and she couldn't even cut through to see if the meat was still edible on the inside. Then there was her yorkshire puddings which hadn't risen at all. They seemed to resemble flat circular disks.
Not for the first time that afternoon, she let out a low curse, which only served to amuse the person in the room with her further. She turned an icy glare on Harry, who stopped chuckling instantly. "You're not helping, Harry."
"I'm sorry," he said, though his tone clearly indicated he wasn't sorry at all. "I still don't understand why you wanted my help," he said, biting into an apple from where he sat on top of the counter.
"I thought that since you had to make all those meals for the Dursley's you might be able to help me with this."
"I didn't make gourmet meals like you're trying to do," he pointed out.
"You could still help," she said. "Whatever experience you have is more than I have. I've never had to make anything before without magic."
Harry had to will himself not to laugh at her failed dinner creation. "Why did you even take muggle studies in the first place?"
She shrugged. "I don't know… my dad's always been so fascinated with muggles, and Hermione made the whole thing sound rather interesting."
Harry snorted. "Hermione could make Arithmancy sound interesting if you listened to her long enough."
It was the first time Ginny had heard him mention Hermione's name in days. She hadn't forced him to talk about any of it because that never worked with Harry, and she had also wanted to avoid getting sucked in to the fight the trio was having, which was a lot harder then it looked. It was difficult to be friends with Harry and still be a sister to Ron, when they flat out refused to speak to one another and Ron would send her glowering looks whenever he saw her with Harry. She had never heard Harry's side of the story, only the outrageous rumours floating throughout the school, which she knew was more gossip and speculation then actual truth.
"Is that why you took it?" She asked him.
He shrugged and bit into his apple, not saying anything for several moments. "I needed another career option and curse breaking was the only other thing that sounded interesting. At least I won't have to take it next year. You only take courses in one designated career area in seventh year."
"I guess that's the kind of information your fan club would be interested in," she said with a knowing grin.
Harry scowled. "Shut it, Gin."
Since Cho had told Michael about Harry and everyone had learned he had kissed Hermione, more than half the girls in the school seemed to want to date him now that he had this reputation. A few had even been so bold as to approach him openly, but he had politely refused before hurrying away – at least through all the ones she had witnessed.
"As president of the original Harry Potter fan club, should I be worried?" She teased.
He tried to glare at her, but she could see the smile he was trying to hold back. "Shut it, Ginny. I mean it."
"You know, Harry, there are worse things then having a bunch of girls ogle you whenever you're in sight."
"Like not having your best friends speaking to you? Or each other, for that matter."
The teasing was over now, and Ginny watched as he tossed the remainder of his apple away with more force then was necessary.
"Have you tried talking to Ron?"
"What for? I'm sure he's much more interested in sending me to the hospital wing then listening to what I have to say."
"Is there any particular reason why he shouldn't?" She said boldly, watching his eyes widen in shock at her bold statement. "Since fourth year, its been blatantly obvious to anyone who knows Ron that he fancied Hermione," she continued. "As his best friend, you knew that better anyone, but you completely ignored that fact and kissed her anyways."
She didn't need to tell him what he already knew. He had always known Hermione was off limits, mainly because of Ron, but also because he had never wanted to do anything that would jeopardize their friendship. But he had completely ignored that sound reasoning and done it anyways. He would take the blame for what he had done, but he was not the only guilty party.
"They should have been honest about their relationship," he said in his defense. "They were sneaking around for months, with no intentions of telling me they were together!" He felt like an idiot. There had been so many subtle hints he had missed. The way Ron barely needed any prodding to go out on prefect patrol, or all the hours they had supposedly spent in the library studying or doing homework.
"Can you really blame them? Just look at how you're acting." She hadn't meant to take sides, but he needed a good hard dose of reality. "They didn't tell you because they knew you would feel abandoned, or even worse, betrayed. It doesn't make what they did right, but that also doesn't mean you get to be angry with them for how they feel. And if you're looking for someone to blame for what happened, you can start with yourself." Harry looked about ready to explode but she continued regardless. He needed to hear this. "What did you think was going to happen when it was just the two of them all summer? They did everything they could to get in touch with you, but you shut them out. You stopped writing, you locked yourself in that room at the Dursley's so you could feel sorry for yourself. You knew things had been changing between them for a while now, and they were bound to figure it out for themselves sooner or later."
He sat there, his eyes were blazing but he didn't say a word. Her words hit him hard because they were the absolute truth. All that time he had spent pushing them away, he had really just been pushing the two of them together. He wanted to be happy for them, but he couldn't – not yet anyways.
"You're not angry because they're together, you're angry because you don't want to be alone. You think now that Ron and Hermione have each other they won't need you anymore. Could you be any thicker? Harry, you'll always be their best friend. That will never change."
Harry, who had quite enough of brutal honesty, hopped off the counter, fully intending to walk out of there, but Ginny wasn't finished yet.
"Do you want to know why you kissed Hermione?" She said to his retreating back.
"No, but I suppose you're going to tell me anyways," he snapped.
Ignoring his temper, she said, "you think that no one else will understand you the way she does. She's been with you through everything and she knows things about you that Cho never will."
"Your point?" He growled at her.
"The point," she stressed, "is that you don't feel about her the way you think you do – and I think you know that."
She matched his stare with one of her own, not backing down. As it was, Harry was the first one to break eye contact.
"You should make something simple," he said, looking away. "I could help you make kippers and eggs. I could make that in my sleep if I had to."
His offer was sincere, so she nodded her acceptance. They didn't talk much after that, but the silence wasn't tense like she was expecting it to be. Harry didn't look resentful for all those things she had said, and at least with his help she knew she wouldn't receive a failing grade on her project.
When it came time for Quidditch practice, it was only the third time Harry had been on his new Nimbus since he had bought it in Hogsmeade. He knew he should have spent more time getting accustomed to the feel and movement of it, instead of using his invisibility cloak to hide throughout the castle to hide from everyone and everything. Wandering out late at night had gotten to be a normal part of his routine that he no longer thought twice about sneaking out passed curfew. Once or twice he had spotted Ron or Hermione patrolling alone, but he would silently move on not giving his presence away.
Quidditch practices were difficult, but as of yet Katie hadn't commented on the mounting tension between Ron and himself. That was probably because she figured his bad-temperedness was due to the fact that he couldn't play in any of the matches, which in turn put Katie in a bad mood most of the time.
When Malfoy and his band of witnesses had reported what happened in Hogsmeade, Ron had been suspended from the Gryffindor team for the rest of the term. Gryffindor had one more match before the end of term and they were going to have to play it a man short. Since it would be next to impossible to win without a Keeper, Katie, who had the most experience out of any of them was filling Ron's position. That put them down a Chaser but there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it.
Under the watchful eye of Professor Flitwick, Katie called the practice an hour before dinner. When they were all in the locker room, she spoke to Harry first. "Potter, I want you on that new broom of yours every day before our next match against Slytherin. We're already down one player, we can't afford to have our Seeker flying a broom he hasn't had a chance to break in."
He assured her that he would. He hadn't added any of the upgrades to his broom yet. Ron had been supposed to help him with that, but now that they weren't talking Harry didn't feel all that interested in doing it himself.
"And Ron, I don't want to see you going soft," said Katie. "I want you at all our endurance practices."
Ron barely nodded his head before heading out of the locker room, not caring if Katie was finished with her post-practice speech or not. When he stepped outside he was more than a shocked to see Hermione standing there, her long coat pulled tightly around herself and her scarf blowing in the cold wind.
He had made a point of avoiding her whenever he could, even changing his morning routine by getting up a half hour earlier so he wouldn't have to see her before class. He hadn't talked to her, let alone looked her straight in the eye in days, and now here they were alone, outside in the freezing November weather.
She opened her mouth first but he beat her to the punch.
"Your boyfriend's still in there," he said sharply and began to walk away.
"Will you ever grow up, Ron?" She said to his back. "When are you going to stop acting like a child so we can talk about this?"
"Obviously you can't take a hint," he said, turning back around. "Because if you could you would know I don't want to talk about it."
She willed herself not to lose her temper, because that was probably what he was hoping for so they could have it out right there. She tried a different approach. "I thought McGonagall suspended you." Then again, bringing up his Quidditch suspension might not be a bright idea either.
"She did, but I guess she took pity on me or something because I'm still allowed to practice with the team."
"What about your prefect badge?" She had been dying to talk to him about that and everything else for days, but she hadn't had the nerve to say anything to him before now.
"She wouldn't take it," he told her. "Said I needed to learn responsibility and whatever," he finished with a shrug.
It was more than she could have hoped for that Ron was standing there, talking to her, but now that she finally had his attention she didn't know what else to say to him. It lasted only a brief moment but something flashed in his eyes that made her think he wanted to put this behind them as badly as she did. Then Harry emerged from the locker room then and destroyed any hopes Hermione had of patching things up with Ron. His expression became cold again and he stalked back to the castle, leaving her and Harry standing there.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" Was all he could think of to say to her.
"We were trying to protect you," she answered.
That made him angry. She sounded like Dumbledore had last year, when he had said he kept making excuses to avoid telling him everything he needed to know. Hermione and Ron had done the exact same thing. "You weren't trying to protect me, you were trying to protect yourselves," he stated.
"Contrary to what you might believe, Harry," she said, her voice strangely calm, "we didn't enjoy hiding from you what was going on between us. We just didn't think you would understand."
"You're right, I don't understand how two people who claim to be my best friends can lie to my face every day," he said, his voice thick with betrayal.
"Harry, I'm sorry if you feel hurt or betrayed, but it's not like Ron or I planned any of this. It just happened." She wasn't sure what also she was supposed to say to make him understand they had not set out with the intention of betraying him. She had meant every word she had said to him. Ron was absolutely the last person she ever would have considered falling for. They were so different it was a wonder they hadn't strangled each other long ago.
"Ron and I would never make our relationship seem more important then the friendship that the three of has have. You do know that?" Though if Ron decided not to forgive either one of them they would have a completely different problem on their hands.
The locker room door swung open then and the Gryffindor beater, Jack Sloper, walked out. He took one look at Harry and Hermione alone and was probably already jumping to the wrong conclusion. Hermione cringed. Another rumour floating around the school was all they needed.
"I'm going to visit Hagrid," Harry announced then. He passed Hermione, and ignoring Sloper who was still watching them said, "I'm not okay with it… I – I need some time to think about everything."
He walked off wondering if he would ever be all right with what had happened between his friends. He supposed he wasn't angry with them for having those feelings, he was angry that they were moving forward with their lives and he was getting left behind.
