Hermione walked down the Great Hall with Ginny, who was busy accepting congratulations from every second person at the Gryffindor table. When they finally found a place to sit Ginny gave a happy sigh and hugged herself for a moment. She was actually glowing with happiness, and she didn't seem to hear Hermione when she said, "Do you want sausages?"
"No, thanks," Ginny said absently, still grinning. "Can you believe I beat Cho Chang, Hermione?"
"I told you so," Hermione said.
"Yes, well…forgive me but Quidditch isn't exactly one of your strong points Hermione."
This was too true to be denied, and so Hermione let Ginny continue. "I just…I didn't think I could do it, not after the last one. I mean…I could do it; obviously, catching the Snitch isn't that hard, but…it's not like I was playing that gom Hufflepuff have."
"Gom?" Hermione said curiously. "Have you been hanging around with Seamus again?"
Ginny nodded mischievously. "I was with them…him and Dean at the party." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I think he might have spiked the Butterbeer."
"Ginny!"
"What? It was only a little, and…we'd just won the Cup, Hermione."
Hermione shook her head and Ginny added, "Anyway, I needed it after yesterday."
"Why?" Hermione asked. "Surely winning the Quidditch cup wasn't that traumatic."
"Oh, it wasn't the Cup," Ginny said, "It was just…Michael."
Her tone was more than usually disparaging and Hermione swallowed a sigh. "What is it this time?"
"Oh," Ginny said, "Just…well I dumped him, Hermione."
"What!" Hermione said, nearly spitting orange juice across the table.
"Yeah, I know," Ginny said, "But I didn't have a choice. Right after the match…I mean right after the match, he comes down to me, and the first thing he says is 'how could you do it?' how could I play my best and beat his team; because, apparently, as his girlfriend, I'm obliged to care more about his stuff than mine."
"But you're not his girlfriend any more?"
"No! I'm not," Ginny said, her mouth twisting. "I told him that if he was so annoyed about me beating Cho Chang, then he should go complain to her for playing badly."
"Did you think she was bad?" Hermione said, phrasing her question delicately. If at all possible, she didn't want Ginny to know she'd missed the match.
"Well she wasn't good," Ginny said. "I think her concentration was off…or something; I'm not sure. She cried at the end, but that doesn't really mean anything does it?"
Hermione sighed and said, "And you're happy enough about ending it with Michael?"
"God yes!" Ginny said, shaking her hair out. "I'm giddy! He was driving me nuts."
"Oh," Hermione said, arching one eyebrow, "So that's why you were flirting with Dean all last night."
"I was not!" Ginny said indignantly. Hermione just looked at her, and she continued to defend herself, saying, "I don't flirt."
"Yes, Ginny," she said, "And Zacharias Smith doesn't make obnoxious and annoying comments on a regular basis."
Ginny looked shocked. "Do I flirt?" she said, "I don't mean to."
"Well," Hermione said, "You're no Lavender Brown, you're just…friendly. In a flirtatious way. Why do you think Harry likes you so much?"
A look of utter horror crossed Ginny's face. "I flirt with Harry!"
"Well," Hermione said nervously, "Not just Harry – there's Dean and Seamus and Neville and Colin and Dermot and…I'm making it worse aren't I?"
"Oh, I think so!" Ginny said. A moment later she put her head in her hands and moaned quietly. "I'm a flirt! What'd Mum say?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Nothing! There's nothing wrong with it, Ginny. Look at Tonks."
"She doesn't flirt."
"Oh come on, Ginny. She does a bit."
"No," Ginny said, looking at Hermione as if she were nuts, "She doesn't."
"Yeah she does! I mean, with Lupin obviously…but she even does a bit with Snuffles."
"Ugh!" Ginny said, with a look of disgust on her face. "That's her cousin Hermione!"
"You're the one who thinks he's good-looking." Hermione said defensively.
"When he was younger – that's what I said, and would you please let it go!"
"Fine," Hermione said sulkily. There was a moment's silence and then she said, "I meant to say, Harry knew you could do it. He said you just needed more confidence."
"Really?" Ginny said with a smile. "He said that?"
"Well, there was a lot of stuff about…diving at the correct time and gauging your opponents exact mindset and other things, but…I didn't really understand it."
Ginny seemed unable to contain her smiles, and was about to say something when Parvati and her sister joined them. "Ginny," she said, "I need to talk to you."
"Oh," Ginny said, "What is it?"
Parvati sighed and said, "I thought you should know that…" her voice trailed off as she looked at Ginny, and then she said, "Padma, tell Ginny what you told me."
Padma bit her lip and, looking nervous, said, "Okay…Ginny this wasn't…don't shoot the messenger, all right?"
"Okay," Ginny said, looking baffled.
"Last night at the Ravenclaw…wake…Michael kissed Cho!"
"What!" Ginny said furiously. Hermione saw Padma and Parvati exchange a glance and then beat a hasty retreat – it was up to her to calm Ginny down.
"I can't believe it!" Ginny said, beginning to reach for her wand. "Muggle Studies my foot. All this time he was just trying to…"
"Ginny," Hermione said urgently, "Put your wand down."
"No!" Ginny said, "I am going to give him a hex to remember."
"You don't want to do that." Hermione said calmly.
"I don't? Why not – he deserves it! Twice over. Just think about how ridiculous he'd look with Bat Bogeys all over his face in the middle of the hall…"
"Ginny," Hermione said, "Don't lose your mind over this."
"Fine!" Ginny said. "I won't hex him. But I should."
"Think about how ridiculous you'd look, hexing the boy you've just dumped."
"You have a point," Ginny admitted, "But tell me, Hermione; does every boy…in the world…fancy Cho Chang? Seriously, what is that?"
She was interrupted when Dean, who was passing, leaned over her shoulder and said, "Not every boy. Just the stupid ones." Ginny beamed at him.
"You heard then?" Hermione said.
He nodded. "Parvati told me."
"Great!" Ginny said, "No everyone knows. Everyone. Now I'm just the dumb girl he basically cheated on."
"No," Hermione said, "No one's going to think that Ginny."
"You know what they will think?" Dean said.
Ginny shrugged, and he continued. "They'll think she's taking your leavings."
"Oh. Oh I like that!" Ginny. "That's much better."
"Glad to help." Dean said, and moved off to join Seamus. Ginny looked after him for a moment, and then turned to Hermione, saying, "Since that's basically sucked out my will to live for the rest of today, maybe I'll do some work on Transfiguration."
"Well," Hermione said, "If you did…did actual work I mean, I think you'd guarantee yourself a place in McGonagall's good books for the rest of the year."
Ginny wrinkled her nose. "I don't think she'll care after yesterday – she was never that bothered by the twins."
"Yeah," Hermione said, "But still…it'd just be nice if this year you didn't have to cram for seven hours the night before the exam. I don't know how you're going to manage your OWLs."
"Hermione!" Ginny said irritably, "I've just broke up with my boyfriend of almost a year, and found out that he replaced me within a day. Give it a rest, all right."
Hermione glared at her, and Ginny gave in. "Fine! I'll work on my Transfiguration. But don't think that I don't know that you're only pushing this because of your exams."
"That is not fair!" Hermione said, feeling herself begin to swell up.
"Yes it is."
She turned in her chair to glower at Ron, who had finally come down to breakfast with Harry. "It is not." Hermione said.
"Yeah it is. Don't let her bully you, Ginny," Ron said, as he shovelled fried meats onto his plate.
Hermione gave in and started to eat her pancakes, as Harry said to Ginny, "How are you feeling – you didn't go up till pretty late last night."
"Oh," she said, staring at the Ravenclaw table, "I'm just peachy."
Harry was slightly put off by Ginny's tone, and she seemed to remember herself a moment later, for she said, "What are you lot doing today?"
"Studying," Harry said mournfully. He was echoed a moment later by Ron. "You?"
"Oh," Ginny said, catching Hermione's look, "I'm going to do some work on my Transfiguration, and then…I'm going to help Luna make a bracelet."
"Still Butterbeer caps?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. You know," Ginny said, "give her a few years and they will be a serious fashion accessory."
"We'll see," Hermione said doubtfully.
There was a moment's silence – Hermione's mind was irritatingly blank – and Ginny stood up, saying, "I should leave you lot to it. You'll be taking a break at some point, right?"
Harry nodded fervently, ignoring Hermione's disapproval. "Well," Ginny said, "Jules was talking about having a picnic out by the lake this afternoon, so…if any of you want food, just come find us."
And then she was gone.