Hermione was using the spare half hour before dinner to read over her dictionary of Runes, something she never seemed to get enough time to do, when Ginny poked her head through the Portrait Hole. Catching Hermione's eye, she came to sit beside her, ducking and diving as though she was dodging a Bludger.
Amused, Hermione said, "What's all that in aid of?"
Ginny was pink and slightly shame-faced as she said, "I suppose…I'm a bit paranoid. When we were in Hogsmeade today I was looking over my shoulder for Ron the whole time."
"Oh," Hermione said delicately, "About that… Do you know you've got confetti in your hair?"
"Damn! Michael made me go to Madam Puddifoots with him…" Ginny said, as they dusted her hair off, Hermione getting the back.
"I think it's weird, Hermione," she continued, "I felt like I was on display, like it was Michael's way of saying, 'This is my girlfriend'."
"Well," Hermione, said, "You know what they say – once you've gone to Madam Puddifoots, you're officially a couple."
"Who says?" Ginny asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Well…Lavender and Parvati – and Hannah Abbot."
Ginny snorted. "Ridiculous." After a moment, she added, "Anyway, what were you saying?"
Although she wished she hadn't mentioned it, Hermione was determined to be brave. "Well," she said, "I was just going to tell you, you don't have to be paranoid about Ron any more."
"What?" Ginny said, with a rather worrying glint in her eye.
"I may have…let it slip." Hermione couldn't help herself – she quailed as Ginny said, "May have? Either you did or you didn't."
"You see, after the meeting, Harry and Ron were talking about Zacharias Smith, and I was explaining why he joined, and then…I didn't mean to, but…I told them about Michael… So you don't to worry any more!"
Ginny sat up sharply, and Hermione had a feeling her tactic had failed miserably. Ginny's voice was rather shrill as she said, "Why? Why? Why would you do that?"
"It was an accident," Hermione said, "I just…Look, Ginny, I think it's for the best. I mean, Ron knows now, so you don't have to worry, and really…there's no reason to think that he'll take it badly."
Ginny glared at her. "Yeah, right," she said, "How long did he spend ranting and raving about it?"
"Not long…ten minutes…half an hour."
"Great! Just…great." Ginny slumped in her chair. "I never wanted them to know."
Ginny had been quite adamant about this particular point on several occasions, and, thinking that she couldn't possibly make things worse, Hermione asked, "Why? What does it matter if they know?"
"Because…because, aside from Ron being an overprotective git, I didn't want Harry to know."
"But, look at it logically…Harry knows you don't like him anymore – that's a good thing."
Ginny stared at her. "No, Hermione, Harry doesn't know I don't like him – he knows that I liked him until someone else liked me, and that I'm so shallow that basically the only thing that mattered was someone liking me, not… And now he's going to think that I'm trying to show Michael off in front of him or something, like 'look what you missed' even though I'm not, even though I tried to keep it a secret, and I just…I don't want him…anyone to think that that's what it's about."
"Okay." Hermione said, attempted to frame some coherent response to this diatribe.
"Lavender and Parvati still make comments, you know." Ginny said, a sulky expression on her face.
"Ginny?"
"Yeah."
"Can I tell you something? And will you promise to believe me?" Ginny nodded. "Harry's as dumb as a post." Hermione held up a hand to silence the protests that automatically rose to Ginny's lips. "Do you know what he said, when I told him?"
"Well obviously not, Hermione."
"He said, 'that's why she talks now, she never used to talk to me.'"
Ginny moaned and covered her face with her hands. "Is this supposed to make me feel better, Hermione?" she said, "Because, there are other things we could talk about, like that time I sent a singing Valentine, or maybe…"
"Ginny, stop it." She subsided, though Hermione could tell her friend still felt distinctly mutinous. "My point is – you've been talking to Harry since, I don't know, the World Cup – yeah, I know you weren't around much last year – but it took him most of a year to notice that."
"Hermione – I love you, but I'm not seeing the comfort here."
Hermione sighed, privately wondering if all Weasleys were occasionally thick. "Look, Harry isn't nearly…intuitive enough to think that you're trying to show off in front of him, or that he has that much control over what you do – which he doesn't, as you well know – he still hasn't quite figured out that Cho might like him."
"Okay." After a moment Ginny chuckled and said, "How bad is it?"
"Honestly? It's like watching snails mating…" Hermione took a moment to be disgusted by that thought. "I think it'll be March before he figures it out."
"Well," Ginny said, "Given Ron…that still puts him ahead of the curve."
Hermione nodded, acknowledging the truth of that statement; she wasn't quite prepared for what Ginny said next.
"Do you…do you think I'm really like that?"
"Like what?" Hermione said, mystified.
"It's just, Jules and I were talking the other night, and…"
"And what?" Hermione said, slightly irritated. They'd be going down for dinner soon – she didn't have time to prod the truth out of Ginny.
"She said…she said I'm all about boys, that I don't do anything for myself, that's just 'Harry' or 'Michael' or my brothers, and…"
"What…what brought that on?"
"Well," Ginny said, twisting her hands in her lap, "I was trying to get Jules interested in Harry's thing, and…I don't know, I suppose it makes her uncomfortable."
"Because of her parents?" Jules, like Neville, had been raised by a grandparent, her own parents having fallen victim to Voldemort's supporters.
Ginny nodded and said, "Well…it got a bit heated."
"Yeah, clearly." Hermione said, disbelievingly. "When you two fight it's pretty…rough, isn't it?"
Ginny shrugged. "Louise is the peacemaker."
"Well…Ginny you don't believe that, do you?"
The younger girl shrugged, looking intensely miserable, and Hermione decided that it was time she got a dose of simple common sense. "Look," she said, "If you and Michael broke up tomorrow, would you…stop talking to Harry?"
Ginny shook her head, and, warming to her theme, Hermione continued. "Would you stop being friends with me? Stop standing up for Neville and Luna? Tie your hair down so no one would notice?"
"No," Ginny said quietly.
"Well, then…there you are. Look, Ginny, maybe Michael did help a bit, but…it's still all you. I mean, Viktor helped me – I'm, you know, more confident and all that – but that's not all Viktor, he just…sped it up a bit, that's all."
Ginny opened her mouth, looking confused, but Hermione cut her off, and said, "There's nothing wrong with feeling goof about yourself, or…no matter you got there, it's…as long as it's yours, and no one else's…like you said, even if you stopped going out with Michael, it wouldn't change anything."
Ginny hugged her.
Once they'd calmed down, Ginny said, "That's a nice quill."
Hermione grinned. "Thanks. I got it in Schrivenshafts today – I spent too much on it, but…"
"It's just so pretty," Ginny said knowingly.
They continued their conversation, and eventually Hermione decided to ditch Ron and Harry for one evening, and have dinner with Ginny and her friends instead.