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All the characters in this story belong to JK. I own nothing :(

Chapter 3

"Hermione! It's so nice to see you again!" Hermione let herself be pulled into a warm hug.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley it's nice to see you too! It smells delicious in here! How can I help?"

"Don't be silly dear, just go outside the boys are playing some Quidditch with Ginny. She told me you finally met yesterday." at that last statement Hermione could have sworn Mrs. Weasley had given her an inquisitive look, suspicious almost.

"Oh yes, we met up with her after her match"

"Good good! That meeting was long overdue!" Hermione just nodded not wanting to give anything away to the incredibly perceptive witch before her.

"I best go outside. Thank you again Mrs. Weasley."

"You're welcome dear." she glanced at the enchanted clock hanging in her kitchen "Please tell children that George will be here in a minute and that food will be ready soon".
Hermione nodded again and smiled.

As soon as she walked outside Hermione saw Ron and Harry zooming behind Ginny trying to catch up to the young girl who was in possession of the quaffle. The brunette looked in awe as the younger witch flew effortlessly and gracefully through the sky. Although they were playing for fun there was still a look of determination on her face combined with a smile that reflected pure love for the game.

Hermione took her usual spot under a tree and just watched her friends try to out fly the younger witch. It didn't take long before Ron spotted her and they all landed in front of her looking slightly out of breath.

"Outstanding game- may I ask who was winning?" the brunette asked with mock innocence.

"It was close" Ron said curtly. He knew it was silly but he still felt dejected;but he always felt a little bit competitive towards Ginny. The years did nothing to mitigate the rivalry he felt at times.

"Oh come off it Ron I won fair and square" Ginny smiled looking proud of herself. "Hi Hermione, glad you could make it"

"Hi Ginny" the unease she felt the night before at the sight of Ginny came back in full swing. Lovely.

Ron turned to Harry for support but the boy just shook his head and took a step back to indicate he was not going to get involved in another Weasley fight.

Hermione smirked "Well Mrs. Weasley said food should be ready soon. Oh, and George is on his way."

"Brilliant! Rematch after lunch?" Ron suggested animatedly.

"HA, we'll see about that" Ginny scoffed.

As they all walked back into the house Hermione felt the increasingly frequent butterflies take control of her stomach. She was trying to steady her nerves when she noticed she was walking rather slowly and had fallen behind the group. For Merlins sake what is wrong with me? You know what is wrong Hermione - don't fool yourself. As her eyes wondered off she saw Ginny walking a little bit behind the boys who were deep in conversation. Dismissing her troubled thoughts she quickened up her pace and caught up with the younger girl.

"You're a great flier Ginny. Impressive really." she said genuinely. Ginny felt an unexpected shiver run down her spine that she tried to conceal.

"T-thanks Hermione. It means a lot, especially coming from someone who hates flying and quidditch" the younger girl said playfully.

"Who told y-I mean, I don't hate it. I just, don't necessarily see the point to it." She scrutinized Ginny's face for some sort of reaction to what she just said. She had wanted to keep her opinions about Quidditch quiet, knowing that it could potentially put a rift in their very new friendship. Great she thought. The younger girls face was unreadable, so she continued, cautiously "but, I think yesterday I finally understood some of the thrill of it".

Ginny smiled a dazzling smile that rendered Hermione temporarily speechless. Control yourself Hermione, this is absolutely ridiculous. What is the matter with you?

"I'm glad! Now you can come watch some of my matches! I can always use a bit of support, I feel like Ron just goes to try to ask out my teammates" she scoffed and rolled her eyes at her brothers' foolishness.

"Well, I'll try my best to attend them more frequently." she smiled at the youngest. Good job. Not too overly eager. Keep it up Hermione.

"And I didn't get a chance to mention it yesterday, but I think the work you're doing with the house elves is fascinating" The older witch rolled her eyes at Ginny in disbelief.

"Hey! I'm serious. I know most witches and wizards take them for granted, and they themselves are satisfied with the way they are treated because they think it's right. How can you help those who don't want to be helped, you know? Anyway, I don't know if you've gotten a chance to read some foreign material on the subject but there is a huge organization for advancing house elves rights in America. They have been quite successful in moving forward legislation to give house elves rights to chose where they can work for pay and even have benefits. One of my friends mum was the chair of the organization. It's quite amazing actually."

"Oh Ginny, that's fantastic! I read about some of it already but most of the information I found was dated and since most of the advancements were recent I wasn't very useful!" Ginny noticed Hermione was beaming at her. She was so excited that she immediately wished she was an expert on the topic to provide Hermione infinite amounts of knowledge for as long as she lived. Not being able to control herself she offered,

"Well, I could always owl her and see if we could get some you some reading material. What do you think?"

"Oh Gin that would be lovely! Thank you so much!" before she could talk herself out of it she leaped over and gave the young girl a hug. She felt Ginny immediately tense at the unexpected contact and she smiled to herself when she felt the girl relax beneath her.

"Any time" her voice came out as a strained whisper. Thankfully she caught herself before she took in more of that dangerously addicting perfume Hermione was wearing and quickly withdrew her hands from around the brunette. They continued walking slowly in comfortable silence. Hermione shot a quick glance at Ginny who just smiled back.

"So, um, how is it to be back in England?" Pathetic Hermione you should ask her about the weather next.

"It's good to be home" she glanced at the older witch and added " it feels like everyday I find a new reason why I like being here so much"

Dont even dare Hermione. Stop reading into things that aren't there. "I-um, that's great Ginny. You're family is really happy you're back. I know you've been back for some time now, but still."

"Yes. So much has changed since I left, you know? I was just 11 then and although I've been back for breaks it's odd to jump into everything again, and with - never mind" she stopped herself from her ramblings letting out a short laugh "you probably don't want to hear about any of this. I'm not quite sure why I'm even opening up, I'm not usually -"

"It's fine Ginny. Please, go on."'

"I-"

"Girls, there you are! Foods getting cold - chop chop" Mrs. Weasley said popping out her head out of the kitchen door.

"After you" Ginny opened the door and smiled sweetly at the older witch. Not trusting her voice or her words Hermione just smiled back. She is absolutely charming.

The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly. George and Angelina had arrived and Ron was able to have his rematch, unfortunately for him, he lost that game as well. The afternoon was dying down Harry and Ron were playing chess, George was showing Mr. Weasley some new products he had made, and Hermione had joined Ginny, Angelina and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.

"So Gin, who's the lucky bloke this week?" Angelina said with a wicked grin on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny replied affronted. This was not a subject she wanted to discuss in front of her mother and especially not Hermione for some reason..

"Oh come off it Gin, are you still with Dean?" Hermione's ears perked up with interest and she couldn't stop herself from asking,

"Dean Thomas?" Angelina nodded, "you know him?" Hermione asked Ginny in bewilderment. It still perplexed her that she and Ginny did in fact know many of the same people. Just because they hadn't met didn't mean the younger Weasley hadn't met the rest of her Hogwarts schoolmates through Ron. She felt a pang of jealousy that she couldn't quite place. Her rational side convinced her that she was jealous at how easy it was for Ginny to make friends. Even she wasn't so close with her classmates and here was Ginny already part of a group she took years to infiltrate.

"Well, if you all must know, we broke up weeks ago. He was a jealous git and incredibly moody. I couldn't go out without him asking where I was and with whom. Quite ridiculous, if you ask me." Ginny said sounding bored.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat. If I were Dean I would have acted the exact same way. She blushed at the thought and quickly looked up at Angelina who was looking at her intently.

"How about you Hermione? Any interesting men at the Ministry?" Hermione felt everyone's eyes on hers, she shifted again and smiled nervously.

"Not really, actually" she responded amazed at how even her voice sounded.

"So that rumor about Mc Laggen was false? " Angelina pressed.

"Cormac?" it was Ginny's turn to be surprised.

"No, and yes." Hermione answered trying to be vague, she sighed not really wanting to get into this topic at all, but explained "Yes Ginny, it was Cormac. And no the rumors are not false- he did ask me out on dates and was very persistent at it. Unfortunately, he's just not my type" She finished her statement and lifted her gaze to momentarily look up at Ginny. The fire behind the redheads eyes was suffocating; Hermione crossed her legs in an effort to quench the burning ache she felt between her legs. Enough Hermione! Not another word. Leave! Quickly she looked at her watch and got up from the table. Although she did want to stay she had spent more time at the Burrow than she had planned; she really did need to get back to work.

"Blimey!" she deliberately looked at her watch "I have to get going. Thank you so much for the invitation Mrs. Weasley "

"Not a problem dear, you know you are welcome here every time"

"Good job Angelina you've scared the poor girl away" Ginny said her voice laced with irritation.

"No- it's not that, really. I need to get back to work. It was nice to see you again Angelina"

"Likewise Hermione. I'm sorry about just now I didn't mean to pry" She smiled and stood up to hug the girl.

"It's fine, honest. Ginny" Hermione said with a nod directed to the young witch "hope to see you soon."

"Definitely" Ginny responded a bit too quickly and opted to stay seated to keep the physical distance between them.

Hermione walked across the room to say goodbye to Harry and the rest of the Weasley's. Before she could disparate, however, she felt someone call her name.

"Hermione"

"Yes?" her response came out unintentionally cold. The younger witch's smile faltered, her eyes had a flicker of hesitation that was quickly replaced by resolve.

"What are your plans this week?"

"Excuse me, what?"

Ginny's gazed dropped she took a deep breath and looked Hermione straight in the eye.
"Plans, are you free to grab lunch this week? It probably sounds ridiculous but I feel like we have so much to catch up on. You know?" she said quickly.

Hermione was stunned. Besides meeting the boys during the weekends she didn't usually do much during the week; she couldn't help but be surprised by the question, especially coming from Ginny.

"I mean- we don't have to do anything. Really, I know you're busy -"

"I would love to" Hermione interrupted with a small smile; a light blush now creeping back to her cheeks. Oh for goodness sake Hermione enough blushing!

"Great, I'll owl you then?"

"Sounds good"

"Alright. Have fun with work" Ginny grinned playfully. To any other person it would have sounded sarcastic but to Hermione work actually was fun.

"Bye Ginny" a second later Hermione had disappeared but not before Ginny saw her blush one last time.