I would just like to say that although I love J.K. Rowling and all of her characters, imagery, storylines and the such, they have never been mine and will never be mine. Rowling has just given me a push to explore my own imagination.
A/N This chapter was basically supposed to be part of the next chapter, but I figured that it sounded better on it's own. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
Chapter 1: A Broken Heart
The school year had ended on the saddest note possible. Bill was horribly disfigured, Dumbledore was dead, Snape had double crossed him, and he and Malfoy had escaped. Voldemort was killing people left and right, the school might be closing, parents were in an uproar. Even the muggles had noticed something was stirring. Everything that could go wrong had most definitely gone wrong. Ginny had thought her only comfort from all this was that she had Harry to help her through. Much to her dismay, she was wrong.
He had ended their short relationship at Dumbledore's funeral, of all places. She had not let him see how much it had killed her when he told her. She knew he had done it because if she was too close to him she would be in greater danger. She just sat quietly next to him throughout the service and when she finally left his side, tears flowed freely down her face. She went straight to her dorm room to gather her things and left for the trip to the Hogwarts Express and the journey home.
As she sat alone in a compartment on the train her mind began to wander to the day they had won the Quidditch match. She had tried her hardest and gave it everything she had. She wanted Harry to be proud of her. Ginny had always had a crush on Harry, ever since the first day she laid eyes on him. She'd always been jealous of Ron for being his best friend and even more so of Hermione, until that is, she realized Hermione only had eyes for Ron. She had never let her feelings show, thinking he would just see her as Ron's little sister. She did everything she could to try to make him notice her without being overtly obvious. Even dating several other boys and deliberately kissing Dean in the corridor she knew Harry would be traveling. That had disastrously backfired with Ron practically giving birth to a blast ended skrewt. Seeing the way he reacted to her with Dean, she didn't think he'd ever give her and Harry his blessings. After that fateful match, when Harry kissed her and Ron was much more accepting of that kiss than the last one, she thought her life was complete.
"I'm sorry. I know you probably want to be alone right now, but would you mind if I talked with you for a moment. I just wanted to see if you were okay." A voice brought her out of her reverie as she realized Hermione had just spoken to her.
"What? Oh, yes. I'm sorry, I was lost in thought. It's fine, have a seat," she replied.
"I just heard what happened. Harry told me. I'm so sorry Ginny, I really am," Hermione said with clear concern in her deep brown eyes.
"Well, crap happens sometimes..." Ginny stated quite bluntly. She hadn't meant to be so rude, but she had thought to herself that Hermione still had Ron. Hermione just stared at her with a shocked expression on her face.
"Well, I-I-I... I guess I just wanted to see if you needed anything. I'm here for you, you know that right?" Ginny felt the tears start to well up in her eyes and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She threw herself into Hermione's arms and just let herself cry. She couldn't talk, she didn't have the words. She didn't really have any strength left in her, she felt like she didn't have anything left at all. Hermione rocked Ginny as she silently stroked her hair. Soon, exhausted and totally spent, Ginny didn't even have tears left and she slipped into sleep.
She awoke to find her head in Hermione's lap. Hermione had been lightly dozing and she woke when she felt Ginny stirring. Hermione smiled at her and said, "I think we're pulling into King's Cross. We'd better gather our things." For a moment Ginny was a little disoriented. She sat up and looked out the window to see the station coming into view.
"Sorry," she said very weakly as all her memories flooded back. "Sorry for what? I just did what any friend would do," Hermione said. Ginny wasn't very sure what to say and she mumbled a quick thank you and began to grab her belongings. "Well, I'd better go get my bags before Ron breaks his back trying to get them for me. I'm sure I'll see you over the summer." As she slid the compartment door open she looked over her shoulder and told Ginny, "It will get better, I promise." With that Hermione was gone.
She didn't even look around her as she departed from the train. She just wanted to go back to The Burrow and shut herself in her room forever.