A whole week went by without any Ginny rants. Not that I didn't see her, its just when I did, we didn't talk about her sexuality. Or her boyfriend. Instead, we talked about the ever growing presence of Voldemort, we discussed our classes, we talked about magazines… random stuff. Normal stuff. Well, maybe not Voldemort, but everything else anyway. It was nice.

Until Thursday. Ginny and I were studying together in the library. My little corner as usual. Not too many other people were there, so it was nice and quiet.

"How's Ron doing?" Ginny asked conversationally.

I peered at her curiously before answering, "All right, I think. It'll probably be a while before he'll be truly happy with just being friends, but he's at least trying to handle it."

"Ah," Ginny said, pausing, then said, "I've decided to try not to stress about my sexuality… and just concentrate on Harry."

"Good idea," I said. And it was.

We continued studying.

OOO

I found Ginny while taking a walk around the castle. She was huddled in a little nook, out of the way, where people didn't usually walk. It was a little chilly too, I had my cloak on, so not too many people were spending time outside anymore.

Her bag was clutched to her chest and she was sobbing. My heart broke at the sight of her sitting there, completely out of control of the way the tears were just being wrenched out of her. I quickly moved to her side and kneeled down, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close in a warm hug.

"Ginny," I whispered, giving her another squeeze, "What's wrong?"

"Harry," was all she managed to gasp out at first between choking sobs, leaning against me. I waited patiently for her to finish.

"He broke up with me," she said, and saying it out loud brought a fresh round of even more sobbing. I held her tighter, not caring that it was cold out here, not caring that she was getting my own robes damp.

For the first time, I felt truly angry at Harry. Nor did I understand. Why? Why would he break up with her? It made no sense. So I growled to myself, and kept myself patient. Ginny would, hopefully, be able to explain in such a way that would prevent me from going off and jinxing him through the seven gates of hell.

After a while, her crying subsided— no one can cry that hard for very long. She finally straightened up a little, and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, giving a little shiver at the same time. I peered at her with worry as I unwrapped my arms from around her, giving her a little more space.

"How are you doing?" I inquired softly, hoping that wouldn't make her snap at me.

"Actually," she sniffled, "I feel kind of relieved.

"Because even though it hurts… I mean how can it not hurt to sever such a relationship, even if your heart wasn't in it?" she looked away from me, up at the overcast November sky, "But now the stress is gone. I mean, there's still the whole 'am I gay?' thing, but now I can worry about it without the added burden on how that affects him. I'm straight, whatever, I'm gay, also whatever. And I don't have to hide that from him anymore, because I'm not in a relationship where I should be sharing all my thoughts with him anymore. It's sad… it hurts… but I think it was right. Also… from a now slightly distanced perspective… I don't think I really, truly loved him."

"Wow," I said, gazing at the younger girl, "You're really brave, you know that?"

Ginny just sighed and leaned up against the stones of the walls of Hogwarts, letting her gaze drift skyward.

"Can I ask… why?" I inquired, "Why he broke up with you?"

"Oh," Ginny said, glancing at me with a grimace, "Something about Voldemort. It didn't really make sense. About putting me in danger or something. The fact that I didn't want to argue very hard against it says a lot, I think. I just hope… well I think he still loves me, and fearing for me was why he was being distant. And I don't think I'll be getting back with him if… when this whole war is over. I didn't really tell him that I was actually kind of okay with leaving him because it shocked me so much that all I could do was hold off tears until I found a place to be alone."

"Hmm," I said. That could be problematic in the future. I no longer felt like murdering Harry, even though it sounded as if he did have a pretty stupid reason for leaving her, especially if he still loved her. I suppose the anger was gone because Harry hadn't really hurt Ginny that much, at least, not in the way exactly he expected. A small part of me, for some reason, was kind of happy that they were no longer going out.

I looked at Ginny, and I realized I was very glad to have her as a friend. And now that she wasn't 'Harry's Girlfriend' and 'Ron's Little Sister' and just 'Ginny Who Might Be Gay' I realized that her homosexuality had made me more comfortable with mine. I wasn't alone. I was so not alone that a girl I'd known for years was also gay. It was a pretty cool thought.

I smiled at Ginny reassuringly and said, "Everything will work itself out. It's been working out for me."

Ginny glanced at me curiously.

"Ron doesn't hate me," I explained, "Well, not yet anyway. He seems to have actually accepted that I don't want to be his girlfriend, finally… which is a relief. And I think we'll be able to stay friends."

"Hmm," Ginny said, looking at me thoughtfully, her eyes still a little red, "Is it bad of me to want to pursue someone else so soon after breaking up with Harry?"

"Not really… I don't think. Especially considering your circumstances," I said, feeling a little confused. Didn't she want to be free of a relationship that would put pressure on her figuring out her sexuality? Then I remembered something from previous conversations… was she talking about another girl?

"Hmm," Ginny said, looking thoughtful, "Except it wouldn't be very considerate to go out with a girl just to see if I'm gay…"

"No, it wouldn't," I agreed, "You have to get into a relationship because you truly care for someone, because you are truly inspired by them."

Ginny sighed, then leaned over so that her head rested on my shoulder. A little last, hiccupping sniffle escaped from her and she sighed again.

"Life is hard," she said, "I'm happy and sad to be without Harry. But being happy doesn't make the sadness go away. How is it possible for two such opposite emotions to coexists, side by side?"

I sighed, gazing across the Hogwarts grounds in silence, feeling Ginny breathe beside me, my heart aching empathetically for her. After a while, I decided to speak.

"You'll figure it out," I told her, "Sooner or later. Does it really matter, anyway? If you truly care for someone, you'll know, it won't matter what gender that person is. If it's a girl, go ahead and call yourself gay if you want. If it's a guy, call yourself straight, or call yourself bisexual if you still think you could go out with a girl."

"Hmm," Ginny mumbled softly, thoughtfully, "Maybe I should just kiss a girl to find out."

"Oh really?" I said with a chuckle, raising an eyebrow at her. She looked up at me.

"Yeah… just to see, you know," she answered with a smile.

"And who are you going to just go up to and kiss?" I asked with a smirk, amused.

"I dunno," she replied, glancing away and then looking back at me with a twisted smile, "I could kiss you."

"Could you?" I retorted, still smiling.

I suppose I was partly to blame for this, which I suppose should have been a red flag in my mind. But for some reason, I was oblivious. So I was surprised when Ginny picked her head up off my shoulder and reached her hands up to gently cup my face in her fingers. Then she pulled our faces together and touched her lips against mine. It was like fire. Warmth. My whole body suddenly felt alive. The kiss was over too soon. I stared at her. So that's what kissing a girl was like. Why hadn't I been trying to find a girlfriend all this time?

I looked down with a smile at the girl staring up at me, "You know… in theory that shouldn't work."

"What shouldn't work?" Ginny asked, still staring at me. She was smiling, and looking a little flushed, from embarrassment, I assumed.

"Kissing me. Because you have to like someone in order for kissing them to be wonderful," I pointed out, "If you're gay, kissing a girl you aren't interested in will be the same as kissing a guy."

Though kissing Ginny had been completely different from kissing Krum. Or Ron. But I hadn't really been interested in either of them.

Ginny's eyes slid away from mine and she just murmured, "Hmm," as she leaned up against the rock wall. I suddenly felt colder than I had before. After a few minutes of silence we both got up, and wandered back to the Great Hall for dinner. I didn't hear any of the conversation.