Breaking Boundaries
By: Somewhere Sky
Disclaimer: Of course, as always - the rights to the Harry Potter realm of fiction belongs solely to
J.K. and her brilliant mind. Although I may admit, I shall always be slightly jealous.
Chapter 5:
When All Else Fails
Hermione was the first to wake the following morning, and at first she had unknowingly nuzzled her head into Ginny's back as sort of a reflex. She felt so comfortable and so at ease, that she hadn't noticed the other girl slowly awaking. Hermione was startled, not sure whether to pull a way quickly and pretend nothing happened, or to just stay there in hopes that Ginny wouldn't mind so much that Hermione had attached herself to the other witch's body.
Ginny had been awake for quite sometime, she let Hermione cuddle with her for as long as she could, and to top it all off she grabbed a hold of Hermione's hand and squeezed it before turning over to face the red-in-the-cheeks brunette.
It wasn't something either of them had expected, they did want it to happen - both of them. Yet, at the same time both girls were terrified, they hadn't a clue where these feelings had arose from even if they had felt the love blossom years before. With the war over, not many of their friends survived, and if they were to not give their love a chance, they may just be letting their good friends die in vain.
"Hermione - " Ginny said as she turned over in the bed, making sure that their hands remained together.
"I-I-I'm really sorry Ginny" said Hermione, her cheeks flushed with pink and her eyes full of fear.
"Why are you sorry? I'm not sorry." said the red-head who at that moment seemed far older than her years to Hermione.
"We shouldn't, you know we shouldn't. It's so..." Hermione's words just stopped, and she let the sentence trail off into nothing.
"It's so what? so wrong? so stupid? so weird? so messed up? Come on Hermione, since when do you care what other people have stereotyped about certain people and certain loves?" Ginny began to raise her voice - it was a love thing, she was allowed to.
"Ginny, I don't..." said Hermione in her own attempt at a defence, but she knew she wasn't going to win anything with this fiery Gryffindor at the reigns. If the Weasley's were known for anything - it was most definitely their tempers, and by the look in Ginny's eyes not only was her heart breaking but that temper was ready to flare.
"After the war, we swore - everyone swore to not let differences bring us apart. To not let differences change us! There is no pureblood, there is no muggle-born, and loving a woman isn't wrong just because she's not loving a man. Oh Hermione, please - it's just as beautiful, if not more.." Ginny finished in a whisper, she had thought that maybe if she reminded Hermione of all of those who died over differences, than maybe she wouldn't think they were so different for loving each other.
"I care a lot about you Ginny, Id o - and when you walk into the room, no one else exists, but that doesn't mean we should be together - or even attempt this. I don't even know why we're discussing this nonsense! It's not possible Ginny, so please just drop it!" Hermione had yelled, and ran from the bed in her night clothes - marching out of the bedroom with the door slamming shut behind her.
Ginny curled up in the bed, pulling her blanket over top of her - the bed, the blanket, her pillow it all spelt of Hermione. She felt horrible for even bringing up the topic, but she knew that they were going to have to talk about what's happening sooner or later, Ginny thought that with them spending the night in the same bed and Hermione holding her, that maybe it was a sign of something more to come.
Apparently not.
"Baby steps, not dragon steps" she remind herself.
Downstairs, Hermione sat with Ron and Harry at the breakfast table disscussing the upcoming term.
"Who do you think their going to replace Snape with?" Ron asked.
"I don't know, it seems that no one - literally no one is able to make it a year with post as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Do you think we'll even need it anymore?" Harry laughed, thinking that with the war over - who do they need to defend themselves against.
"Of course we still need it. Voldemort may be gone, but that does not mean that sometime in the future their may not be another witch or wizard who deems it necessary to take over the wizarding world. I say they'll have to hire outside the castle again, we lost a few good teachers in the fight."
"Please tell me Trelawney was one of them." Ron said as he stuffed his mouth full of pancakes.
"No, Ron - Trelawney is very much alive, however, Ms. Bumbage did." Hermione told him.
"Right, the Mugihf studiesvedighr teacher" Ron said with his mouth full and bits and pieces of already been chewed pancakes found their way onto the table and onto other people's plates.
"That's disgusting Ron" Hermione said rolling her eyes. Harry and Ron looked to each other both of them shrugging. Unfortunately for Hermione it didn't fix a thing.
Hermione pushed her plate forward, not feeling quite as hungry anymore. She caught a glimpse of a pretty red-head in the corner of her eye and immediately she felt her heart racing and her palms sweat, it was her O.W.L.S all over again. Only this time they were testing her on how well she could love another witch, if this had been strictly about spells Hermione would know exactly what to do.
"Spells.." Hermione accidentally said aloud, as she rushed out from the table and into the living room.
Ginny took a chair beside Hermione's watching the brunette run straight out of the room. Ginny was quite insulted, it felt as though Hermione had left as soon as she had walked in. Which was definitely bringing them back to dance around square one again.
"Where's Hermione off to?" She asked the two boys across from her.
"Said something about spells, you can't really hear much because.." Harry said gesturing his head toward Ron. Ginny noticed his loud chewing and gave a laugh while pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice.
Hermione sat on the dusty old couch pouring over a big book laying on the coffee table. The table had actually groaned when Hermione dropped the book on the wood, it gave her quite a scare - she had yet to get used to some forms of magic. She's seen abusive trees, poltergeists, spells to scare you and spells that gave a good laugh. That's what Hermione needed right now, was a good laugh.
Suddenly sparks startled trickling out of the pages, and the pages and lost control, flipping, tearing and making origami shapes.
"What the -" said Hermione.
The book was beginning to move into the air, flapping open and closed continuously. It was like nothing she had ever seen before - magic always surprised, was never to be thought predictable, especially now that her book had literally gone off it's rocker. After about five minutes of uncontrollable fits by the book itself, it slowly slid back and forth like a feather falling lightly back onto the table. The table groaned.
"Oh shush you." Hermione laughed.
The book had fallen open to page one-seventy-five, "Only Laughing Matters are Good for the Heart", the pages said at the top in a messy squiggle of bold words. At the top was the first spell "Pilliosis; You haven't had a good pillow fight, until you've used this spell right". Was what it said, there were spells for playing pranks, making your friends laugh uncontrollably until they literally fall off their chairs. Hermione must have accidentally triggered something in the book, which explains the summer salts the book had just done. Hermione was smiling - this could be fun after all.
With everyone finishing up breakfast, Hermione had very little time to study the book, she was looking for a spell that could maybe bring a little happiness to her current situation. She tore through the pages like it were a race to finish, but nothing was catching her eye, or even her heart.
Hermione watched the sun slowly moving across the floor signifying the hours that had begun to pass, Ginny and the boys had come back from Quidditch in the Yard, Mrs. Weasley spent her entire day cleaning but managed to find time to make dinner for when Arthur got home. Hermione truly hadn't realized just how much time was passing by just staring at this book. This wasn't your average novel of a book, it was fairly huge - and quite heavy. It resembled best, the dreadful book Hagrid had requested from students for their first lesson in the Care of Magical Creatures.
"Hermione, Where are you? We haven't seen you all day!" Ron called from the hall. She ignored him, still looking for something-anything she could use. And than she had an idea.
"Ron, Harry, come in here for a minute would you?" Hermione had called, quickly turning back to page one-seventy-five. Both boys had entered the room, Ron with a cupcake in his mouth, and Harry just curious as to what she wanted.
"Can I borrow you for something?" She asked them.
"I... guess?" Harry responded, Ron unable to answer with his mouth full, knowing it would only cause a little irritation in Hermione. She pulled out her wand, with a finger on the line where the spell lay for her to read carefully. With her wand pointed the boys grew nervous.
"Expectra Levara!" Hermione whispered. At first there didn't seem to be any effect, they were still standing there, and then it looked as if both of them had something jolt them more awake - as if they already weren't.
"Harry.." Ron said.
"Yes Ron" Harry asked.
"I love you" whispered Ron as they turned around looking at each other, this got a definate laugh out of Hermione as HArry returned the adorable gazing into a hug, and than an intimate embrace... and than..
"Oi! What are you two trying to get at?" Ginny screamed.
"I love him" said Ron.
"Yeah yeah you love him, what's going on Hermione?" Ginny seemed a little angry when asking, she shoved herself passed the entangled lovebirds.
"I thought I'd test out a spell, it said the effects would amaze me - but I hadn't expected this." she told the younger witch with a smile pointing toward Harry and Ron.
"Well... you should probably fix it." said Ginny, and not with her usual cheery voice. Hermione hurt hearing her talk to her in that way, she was so used to soft gentle Ginny - not this angry Ginny.
Hermione dragged her finger along the lines of text in the book, looking for a reverse spell. When she found it she was able to perform the spell non-verbally. She had been practicing it for quite some time.
"Get off me mate, what do you think you're doing? That's not funny Harry!" Ron had yelled at the other boy, Harry didn't respond who looked fairly disgusted as well, you could see his body actually curl into a string of shivers. Ron left to the kitchen and Harry had left to go upstairs, anywhere to get away from what just happened. Something was different though, and not with the boys. Hermione heard laughter; and it was coming from the couch.
"Ginny?" Hermione said with a smirk.
"What? I couldn't help it! Ron looked like... like he'd rather be hugged by the Hungarian Horntail than by Harry. Oh my.." Ginny said through a small fit of giggles.
Nothing else was as beautiful as Ginny when she laughed, her face lit up and her smile was just so radiant you'd think it was just a moving picture, not someone you could actually touch and hold. Not caring what she was doing Hermione reached over and pulled Ginny closer to her, her lips meeting with the young girls for the first time, and it couldn't have been less perfect.
The girls hurried to bed that night, making sure to eat quickly at dinner and rush off before anyone was able to ask questions. No one would think that they were up to no good, they'd assume they were just being girls, but your average girls didn't lay snogging in bed all night until both fell asleep once again in each others arms. Only this time Ginny knew that Hermione was ready to be hers.
Hermione and Ginny acted no different the following day as the family crossed over from platform 9 3/4 to the Hogwarts train station. They acted politely as friends he stood oddly close to one another and shared longing glances. They knew, both of them, when boarding the train - that Hogwarts was going to be different this year.
They had no idea how right they were.
Okay so I finally got around to the fifth chapter, I feel like it's been days since I've updated even though really it hasn't been. I realize some of you were expecting it to be so much more romantic when they first got together, but just so we don't confuse things here - they are not together - not in a relationship - so far Ginny's in head over heels and Hermione's just trying things out to see how it goes. If they fall in love - well, you'll find out won't you?
Somewhere Sky