On Sunday Morning, they took the flu powder and evaporated back to school. Their mum had been the only one to see them off because the others were at work. She was still crying incessantly about Percy and it upset everyone else to see her that way. But Ginny was glad to be back. She needed some distractions and she hoped Ron and Hermione would make up, but the second that they reached the portrait hole, Lavender screeched, "Ronnikins!" and started kissing him furiously.
Ginny couldn't help but role her eyes and Harry did the same. They smirked at each other and were about to enter when Hermione appeared behind them, "Oh! Hi guys! The password is Bowtruckle." She cast a sidelong glare at Ron, who was trying desperately, but in vain, to extract himself from Lavender's lips. That's when Lavender asked loudly, "Why aren't you wearing my heart-shaped necklace?" Ginny grinned at Harry and he nodded, shaking his head, "It was her Christmas gift. You can understand why he didn't want the twins knowing about it."
Ginny completely understood this. They lumbered into the common room, where she was greeted by Neville with an enthusiastic hug, Dean, and Seamus, all sitting by the fireplace. Hermione grumbled to her, "It makes you feel sick, doesn't it?" Ginny nodded and replied, "If it makes you feel any better, I think Ron's getting tired of it now." Hermione muttered, "As he jolly well should!"
They spent the rest of the evening catching up on their holidays. Hermione had gone away to France on a skiing trip with her parents. Her mother knew about the Death Eater's and had done it to keep themselves and Hermione safe over the holidays. Hermione gushed about France. She spoke about all the sightseeing she'd done and it made Ginny envious. She had only ever been to Egypt, but that really was an incredible place to go sightseeing. She'd learnt more in that holiday than in any other holiday, ever. When Hermione finished her story, Harry told her about the conversation he'd heard between Snape and Malfoy. Hermione sighed when he finished and said doubtfully, "Honestly, Harry, I think you're over-thinking this. Snape was clearly interrogating Malfoy on Dumbledore's behalf. It's the obvious reasoning here." Harry grimaced and tried to persuade her, "I still think he's a Death Eater." Hermione turned to Ginny, "What do you think, Gin?" Ginny shrugged her shoulders. To be honest, she didn't know what she thought of it. All she knew was that Harry didn't have enough concrete evidence to prove his point. Harry tried to use Fenrir Greyback as a way to convince Hermione but she merely said, "He was bluffing."However, she said, "I wouldn't put it passed Malfoy to do something like that, Hermione. But Harry doesn't have any concrete proof either." She swiftly changed the subject to how Gwenog had come and visited her to watch her play. Hermione was thoroughly impressed, although she murmured, "I know you're trying to change the topic!"
The following day was Monday and school was already becoming overbearing in her workload, even on their first day back! She had an essay from just about every other teacher and the work was mounting. She'd also had had to complete homework in the holidays, so it hadn't all been fun and games. Ginny hardly had time to spend with Harry, Ron or Hermione as she was loaded to the brim with school work. She found herself rushing back and forth between the library, classes and finally bed at the end of the day. It was somewhat of a relief to crawl in and switch off her swarming mind from school for a change.
Nothing incredibly interesting had happened, except that during dinner, Harry had told her that Dumbledore wanted another meeting with him after which meant that he had to eat quickly. He was done in a matter of minutes, and then he rushed off to the meeting. Ginny sighed to Hermione, "I have a feeling the rest of the term will be like this: one minute I see him, the next minute I don't." Hermione nodded and grimaced, "Yeah, it's really crazy for all of us right now. Unfortunately, it's just that time of year." Ginny had nodded her head in agreement.
When she walked back to the library, she found herself walking beside Neville. He greeted her happily and she couldn't help but smile, "Hey Neville! How was your holiday?" she asked. Neville shrugged his shoulders, "Pretty average. The usual. And yours?" Ginny didn't want to bring up Gwenog and seem like she was bragging so she just said, "Same." Neville laughed, "You can't really mean that! You had your boyfriend living with you for a week. At least you had some sort of entertainment!" Ginny giggled and blushed, "Yeah well when you have your family buzzing around you all the time it doesn't really seem as wonderful as all that." Neville rolled his eyes, "At least you have a love life. Can't complain about that!" Ginny frowned, "What about Hannah Abbott? Last I heard, the two of you fancied each other." Neville's eyebrows shot up to the ceiling and he stammered, "Er…how did you hear about that?" Ginny chuckled and shrugged, "Not telling you my sources. So, is it true?" Neville shrugged his shoulders and sighed, "I don't know. I think…we've been too good friends for so long that you don't really know how to break the friendship zone, you know?"
Ginny nodded emphatically, "I completely understand. It's how I felt about Harry for a long, long time." Neville frowned as they walked, "What changed your mind?" Ginny thought about it. She didn't even know what changed her mind. She knew part of it had to do with wanting to prove Riddle wrong…that she was good enough for Harry…but that was only part of it. Ginny sighed and answered, "I guess I finally realized that I loved him." This was the entire truth. Neville nodded and smiled, "And you can see it. You both seem so happy and carefree when you're together." Ginny smiled back at him, "Thanks Neville. Do you feel that way about Hannah?" He shook his head, "Not yet. But I think I could…in the future."
Ginny turned to him then as they reached the library and replied, "You deserve happiness Neville. Just as much as anyone else, if not more than anyone else." He smiled at her appreciatively and then asked, "Do you need to study?" She nodded and he grinned, "Great! Can I join you?" She nodded and they headed in together. She hadn't really spent much time in the library since she spent all those hours in there with Cedric. It was a bit of a daunting place for her actually but she felt completely comfortable being there with Neville. It was refreshing to have some good company while she worked for hours into the night.
She eventually retired at twelve and Neville accompanied her back up to the common room. They were talking about how much they missed D.A lessons when Harry showed up on one of the staircases as they were about to move. He nodded, "Hey Gin, hey Neville." He looked tired and preoccupied, lost deep in thought. They greeted him but continued with their discussion.
Once they reached the common room, Ginny hugged Neville goodnight and thanked him for his company. He smiled at her warmly and then said goodnight to herself and Harry. Harry turned to her and raised an eyebrow once Neville was out of earshot. There were only three other students in the common room so he asked, "What were you doing with Neville walking around the castle so late at night?" Ginny couldn't help but roll her eyes, "We were just working together in the library. How did the meeting with Dumbledore go?" Harry shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It was okay…can I tell you another time though please because I'm exhausted?"
Ginny nodded her head, "Sure. I am too. Goodnight." He smiled at her gratefully, kissed her cheek and then hurried up the stairs. She sighed and sat down at an empty table, still not done with all of her workload and she continued until one o clock in the morning. She was already exhausted and needed sleep, but knew that right now sleep was not a possibility. She still had to finish her two thousand word essay for Snape which was due the following day.
It was Tuesday and not only had Ginny gone to sleep at two in the morning, but she also had Quidditch practice after dinner. She was so exhausted she thought she might just fall off her broom! She walked down to the Quidditch pitch the slowest pace she could possibly go, so that when she arrived there, she was late. Harry was already irritable with Demelza for being late, and so it didn't start off on a good note. Generally speaking, the first practice of the season never did. Surprisingly, Ron was the best player of them all that day.
Ginny returned to the library that evening after a nice long, steaming hot shower to find Neville in the same place they had occupied the previous evening. It made her smile as she greeted him in a whisper and sat down beside him. They worked until twelve (when the library closed) and then retreated back to the common room. She felt her head pounding from the previous late night and still she pushed through, long after Neville had gone to bed. She didn't know how she would survive the week!
By Friday, Ginny still hadn't heard from Harry about what Dumbledore had said. She only got to see him at mealtimes, and Ron was still cold shouldering Hermione so she barely saw him. However, when she did see him, all he did was complain about Lavender and how he wanted to break up with her. Eventually, Ginny snapped at him and said, "Why don't you just break up with her then?!" She was sitting at a table in the library, and Ron had come to join herself and Neville. Ron rolled his eyes, "It's not that simple! Have you ever broken up with someone?" It was the wrong thing to ask. Ginny glared at him and he lowered his eyes in apology, "Sorry." She hadn't broken up with someone, but Cedric had died so that was even worse. He grimaced, "I don't want her to hate me for it." Ginny grumbled, "I'm hating you for your constant complaining about it!" Neville chuckled and Ron sighed superiorly, "You'll understand one day, little sis." Ginny raised her eyebrows and asked, "Does that mean you think I'm going to be breaking up with Harry?" Ron frowned, "Well…you're not very well going to marry him are you?"
Even though Ron was right and she didn't know how much of a future she and Harry had, she still felt angry with him for suggesting it. It wasn't like it was her choice to not be with him, if ever the time came. She really hoped it wouldn't be his choice either, but she also knew that this thought was naïve and foolish of her to expect such things of him. She grumbled under her breath, "I hope for it, every minute of every day."
It might not have been the most appropriate thing to say, especially in front of her brother of all people, but at least it wiped the smug smile off Ron's face. He raised his eyebrows sky-high and told her, "Just don't get your hopes up…you know the prophecy…" Ginny snapped, "I know what the prophecy said! I'm not an idiot. It doesn't mean I can't still hope for it Ronald!"
That's when Madame Pince told her to be quiet. Ginny grabbed her books and rushed out of the library as fast as her legs could carry her. She heard Neville calling her name and she turned around to face him sharply, "What Neville?" she snapped impatiently. He seemed hesitant before asking, "Hey, are you okay?" Ginny forced a smile and nodded, "Yeah, I will be. Thanks Neville. Sorry I snapped. Ron just pushed all of the wrong buttons." Neville nodded sympathetically, "I know. It must be so hard for you…not knowing." Ginny nodded and found she couldn't look at him. Neville walked closer to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you."
Ginny smiled gratefully at him, "Thanks Neville. I appreciate it. A lot. I might take you up on that offer someday, but right now I'm just tired." Neville nodded and said, "Go and get some rest then. You need it," Ginny smiled in thanks, and then headed for the dormitory. As soon as she got there, she changed quickly in the bathroom and then collapsed onto her bed, her mind teaming with negative thoughts about herself and Harry and how it might very well end.
Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me so long! I haven't really felt like writing so I took a bit of a break. I think I wrote too much at once beforehand and then needed to get some inspiration back so here it is! Hopefully it won't take so long for the next chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it! By the way, Neville and Ginny are just friends. Nothing more! Just thought I'd put that out there in case there is some confusion. Thank you to everyone for always reviewing and reading! 123summer123 I'd love to give you tips with your writing but I can't inbox you?