A/N: Told you it would update soon! However, please do not, in any way, get used to this ridiculous updating schedule; I feel like my writer's block is still out there somewhere, just waiting to spring out of some dark alley and take me unawares...

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Collette1me, who knew exactly what that last chapter was about. Personally, and painfully, and through direct experiene, I'm afraid. Sooooorrry! This doesn't even make up for it, nor should it, but it's a nice gesture, right? Happy friday everyone!!!!!

Collette1me doesn't have to review because she gives me play-by-play feedback as she's reading these things, but can you say the same for yourself? mmmmmm? Lol, I do love getting reviews, but don't stress yourself out about it or anything...

5. Seduction 201

"Oh." said Ginny in a small voice, to the top of Hermione's head. The other girl had bent tightly over her essay again as soon as she had finished speaking, and was now punctuating with a vengeance. "I'll just be going, then…" she said, hurriedly picking up her chart and book.

She beat a quick retreat across the common room, and collapsed on a chair opposite Parvati, who was curled up by the fire reading a novel, with the feeling that she had just escaped a hurricane. Parvati looked up from her book and raised her eyebrows questioningly at Ginny, who grimaced. Clearly the older girl had been watching the drama unfolding at Hermione's table.

Ginny chanced a glance over her shoulder as well, and was glad to see that Hermione had put on her earphones, and was now ensconced behind a wall of sound as well as her wall of books. When Ginny spoke, though, it was in a low voice, as though afraid that Hermione could still hear her.

"Is anything wrong with Hermione today? She seems a bit…off."

"Hmmm…" Parvati tapped her fingers on the spine of her book. "Not that I can think of, no…" Ginny felt her stomach sink; maybe she had managed to screw things up with Hermione really badly after all. "No, wait," said Parvati, who had apparently kept thinking. "She just got her period this morning; she was complaining about having to rush back to Gryffindor Tower over lunch. Sometimes she gets a bit…you know…around that time…"

"Crabby? Stressed? Introverted?" Ginny supplied, and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. So it wasn't her fault, at least not entirely…

"I was going to say 'evil', actually," admitted Parvati. "You don't live in the same room with her!" she defended, when Ginny met this with an incredulous look.

Ginny returned to her star chart, and reflected on the events of the day under this new light. It made much more sense, now. She knew that Hermione was liable to mood swings at her time of the month – being friends with her, it was impossible not to know this – but she had forgotten to consider it this time, in her flood of worry that she had done something to offend her.

She winced when she thought back to how her cheery attempts at conversation must have seemed to the other girl - 'unwelcome' probably didn't even begin to cover it. Now that she knew, though, Ginny was sure she could handle a crabby, irritable Hermione just fine, but the possibility of mood swings still complicated things…Hermione had been all snarky and come-hither-y a few evenings ago, then she had been distant the next day, then she had been flirtatious again, and then distant, and then viciously angry.

Ginny shrugged. She would just have to pay really close attention to her friend and play it by ear for the next few days…unlike she had done up to this point. She just hoped that Hermione wouldn't stay mad at her once she was in a better mood; on the one hand, she really should have been able to tell that she was getting on her nerves, but on the other hand, Ginny hadn't actually done anything that would be considered rude under ordinary circumstances…

Harry and Ron entered the common room from the direction of the boys' dormitory with a clatter. Ron stooped and picked up the Fanged Frizbee that he dropped and added it in a haphazard pile with his school supplies. The two of them passed her armchair without stopping, and made a beeline for Hermione's corner, chatting animatedly.

Ginny launched herself out of her chair and got in front of them, blocking their passage to their friend. "Um…you really don't want to go over there right now," she said, casting a glance over her shoulder. Across the room, Hermione had somehow noticed them despite her heavy self-imposed isolation measures, and was regarding the interchange guardedly.

"Uh, why not?" asked Harry intelligently, following Ginny's gaze. Hermione glowered at him, and he quickly averted his eyes.

"She doesn't feel like company right now." Ginny hoped that this alone would get the message across; when Hermione didn't like to be talked to, she usually didn't appreciate being talked about, either.

Ginny eventually managed to convince the boys that they really would rather play a game of exploding snap with her, instead of asking Hermione to help them with their homework (their original plan), and when she looked up, she thought she saw Hermione smiling to herself. Ginny couldn't keep her lips from turning up in their own secret smile at this.

She had so called it. Hermione was apparently only blisteringly angry when she had to deal with other people; Ginny suspected that she was perfectly happy when left alone to her work and her music. This was something Ginny could respect, and keeping people away from her was kind of fun, anyway.

Ginny fended off one more would-be irritant for Hermione before she finished up with her homework and went up to her dorm. By this time, the common room had emptied out entirely, save Hermione in her corner. She was now back to bobbing her head in time to an inaudible rhythm and mouthing words. Mission accomplished. Ginny smiled to herself as she tiredly climbed the stairs to her dorm. She just couldn't help feeling happy when Hermione was happy, and even more so when she had been the cause of it…

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The next day, Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor table during morning break, catching up on some homework, when Hermione came over to her.

"Hey, Ginny," she said, sitting down next to the redhead.

"Oh, hi!" Ginny looked up and smiled. The older girl looked tired, but not as though she was about to bite anyone's head off. Ginny hazarded a guess that her mood had taken a swing for the better. "Tea?" She gestured toward her own steaming mug.

"I – yeah, sure," Hermione said, a bit flustered. "Actually, tea would be fantastic right now, thanks."

Within seconds, Ginny had retrieved a second mug, magically shrunken for ease of portability, from her bag. She restored it to its natural size with a tap of her wand and peered in, to find it crusted with what, at one point, had been hot chocolate. Eeew, gross. I don't even remember leaving that in there… She cleaned it out with a muttered Scourgify, and hoped that Hermione didn't notice. She didn't want her to think Ginny the sort of person who would knowingly offer a friend a dirty mug.

Ginny turned and rummaged within her bag again. "Is Dragon tea ok? It's all I have."

"What kind is that?" Hermione asked, baffled.

Ginny wordlessly passed her the box, which did indeed sport a picture of a large green dragon on the front. (Which was currently rolling about luxuriously on an equally green, grassy swarth and blowing copious amounts of steam from its nostrils.)

"Oh, I see," said Hermione, raising her eyebrows. "All right, then."

Smiling, Ginny took the box back from her and deposited one of the teabags in the (now perfectly clean!) mug. And if her hand had happened to brush Hermione's while she was taking the box, she was sure it was accidental. Hermione certainly didn't seem to notice it.

Ginny sent a jet of steaming water into the mug with her wand and sent the brewing tea floating across to her friend.

Hermione took the mug and leaned over it, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. "Mmmm, this smells good," she said, her lips curling up in a smile. "Where did you learn to make the boiling water from?" she asked, after she had taken a sip of the tea.

"Mum," said Ginny succinctly, and then went back to the dreamy pleasure that was Watching Hermione Drink Tea. She had thought that Hermione might appreciate a nice cup of tea in the morning – who didn't? – but the way the other girl was savoring every sip spoke of something greater than mere enjoyment. Her hands were wrapped around the mug as if it were a lover, and she smiled blissfully after each sip. If a cup of tea has this strong of an effect on her, then I wonder how she'd react to – But Ginny cut off her train of thought forcibly. Hermione was sitting right there, it wouldn't do to get distracted.

After a comfortable silence where Ginny went back to her homework and Hermione blissfully continued her quasi-orgasmic tea-drinking experience, the older girl put down her cup and took a breath, apparently deciding it was time to get around to saying what she had come to say.

"I want to apologize for the –"

"No need," Ginny interjected, at the same time as Hermione finished with, "way I snapped at you last night."

Hermione looked slightly cross at being interrupted, so Ginny wisely let her continue with her apology. "I feel really bad about it, I mean, I was in a really terrible mood, but I should have told you instead of lashing out like that. It's just that I get a bit…you know…when it's my time of the month. Sorry." She shrugged apologetically.

"Hermione, I totally understand. I should have been able to tell that you weren't in the most conversational of moods. And it's not your fault either, really." No, it's the fault of an inescapable force of nature that asks no questions and takes no prisoners…

"You're too sweet, honestly." Then a sparkle appeared in Hermione's eye as something apparently occurred to her. "And were you keeping people away from me on purpose last night?"

Ginny smiled smugly, and nodded. "I can do it again if you need me to; I had quite the bit of fun doing it. Maybe we should work out a secret signal or something?"

"I – really? You would?" Hermione looked like she didn't quite believe the offer, and reached for her tea again.

Ginny nodded again.

"Um, alright…say, if I –" and she made an obscene hand gesture, by way of demonstration.

There was a crash as Ginny fell off the bench laughing. Hermione peered down with a look of concern as Ginny struggled back up. "I just thought, that if I was angry enough to not want to see anyone, that that might be the only gesture I'd really feel like making…I'd probably just think anything else was stupid and contrived, and feel stupid doing it…but if you think it's not a good idea…"

"No, no, it's a fine idea, just as long as we've worked out what it means in advance." She met Hermione's eyes appraisingly. "Promise me you'll use it, ok? I meant what I said." She had the feeling that Hermione was just going along with her plan to humor her, and she wanted her to know that she really did want to help.

Ginny was quite pleased, though, when Hermione made use of their system during dinner, to great success. Though to Neville's horror – he had tried to interrupt Hermione from the book she was reading, and he had apparently misinterpreted their signal as being aimed at him. Ginny had stepped in and distracted him with questions about some obscure plant's reproductive cycle, but she suspected that Hermione had already succeeded in scaring him off quite effectively. She only hoped that Hermione's bout of moodiness wouldn't last too long; even if she now knew how to deal with scary Hermione, she wanted the nice Hermione back.

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Man, I wish I had a Ginny!