Chapter 11

Hermione POV

When Hermione woke up the following morning, her eyes were not immediately ready to open and instead she felt content to think over last night's events. She couldn't believe it. She didn't regret it at all, the timing felt perfect to her and she hoped Ginny felt the same. A smile crossed the brunette's face as she thought of her favorite redhead. She rolled over to check on Ginny, finally opening her eyes. Only, when she turned to look, there was no Ginny, just the sheets lying in a crumpled mess.

The brunette frowned and sat up slightly. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked around the room for any sign of her girlfriend.

"Gin?" She said. No response. She shook her head and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She bent down and picked up last night's clothes off the floor and threw them on - they'd do for now.

She yawned and padded out into the short hallway.

"Gin?" She called again.

A few moments later Hermione entered the area that conjoined the kitchen, living room and dining room. She wrapped her arms around herself subconsciously as a shiver ran down her spine. She looked around, her frown intensifying as she took in the still surroundings - the beginnings of day starting to pour in through the blinds of the windows.

She walked a little further into the living room, though it would reveal nothing. Her flat was no where near big enough for someone to just be hanging around unnoticed.
"Ginny? Are you around?"

Hermione went over to the fireplace to see if Ginny's shoes were on the mat next to it. The brunette's heart started to beat faster when she spotted only her own shoes on the mat, but she willed herself to calm down.

"Be reasonable," she thought to herself.

She glanced around the living room floor and noticed that the shirt that she had so ravenously removed from Ginny's lean frame the night before was not there anymore.

Calmly, Hermione went back into the bedroom. She reprimanded herself for being so silly as she went over to the closet to see if any of Ginny's stuff was there.

Hermione's heart stilled when she peered in to see that all of Ginny's things were gone. She hurriedly turned around and walked to the center of the bedroom, though not sure what to do. There had to a logical explanation. What time was it? Hermione rushed over to the bedside table to check her watch. She thought that Ginny's portkey didn't leave until around lunch, but maybe she was wrong, or maybe she had slept in, though the limited level of sunlight outside immediately urged her to reject that theory.

As she came up to the table, her eye caught sight of something else on the it. A knot formed in her stomach as she reached down to lift up the ring and necklace - the one that wasn't her own. There was a note with it. With shaky hands she lifted the note and began to read.

Second thoughts...distance...different lives...be friends again someday...

The words of the letter and their meaning came through in a haze as Hermione's vision was blurred by tears that ran unhindered down her face. She knew she was in no shape to be apparating anywhere, but she had to get to the portkey and go back to London. She had to get to the Burrow, she had to find Ginny.

Grabbing her wand, Hermione ran to her fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. She tried to steady her sobs so that she could say the destination clearly enough to not end up in some God forsaken, unknown location.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, this time with greater conviction.

She stepped out and grabbed another handful of floo powder. She yelled her destination, but remained staring at her flat. She changed tactics - she'd try the French Ministry. Still nothing.

Hermione began to sob again as she stepped out of the green flames.

"Ginny..."

Hermione sat up in a panic, breathing heavily and chills went through her body as the cold night air hit the sweat on her skin. She felt disoriented; it had just been morning a minute ago. She turned and released a shuddering sigh as she saw Ginny sleeping peacefully next to her.

"Oh God," she exhaled as she instinctively clutched at her chest. It was just a dream.

She rested her head in her hand as her breathing evened out before she heaved a final sigh; this one a mixture of weariness and relief. She gently lay down again, aligning herself as close to Ginny as she could without fully disturbing the sleeping girl. The brunette tentatively rested her head next to Ginny's shoulder and hoped that it wouldn't wake her from her sleep.

Hermione's breath caught as Ginny abruptly shifted and leaned into Hermione, wrapping an arm around her and mumbled something unintelligible. The younger girl's breathing almost instantaneously deepened, telling Hermione that she was asleep and probably hadn't even fully woken up a moment ago.

The brunette smiled and nestled into Ginny's sleep-induced embrace and felt her body relax before drifting off to sleep once more.

The next morning, Hermione walked into the bedroom, fully dressed, carrying two cups of hot coffee. She wasn't sure just yet whether Ginny would be up, but she'd have to get up somewhat soon to give lots of time to get all her things packed and ready to go for her trip back to England.

As Hermione entered, she saw Ginny stirring in her sleep before lazily stretching out flat on her stomach, part of one leg visible as it stuck out from under the sheets. The brunette smiled in endearment as she took in the sight of her lover. They were so different, yet complimentary to one another in just the right ways.

"Good morning," Hermione greeted, unable to keep the abundant happiness out of her voice.

Ginny rolled over in surprise, before smiling and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Morning," she replied, quickly followed by a yawn that made Hermione's heart swell with adoration.

"Coffee?" Hermione asked as she carefully walked over and held out one of the cups to Ginny, making sure not to spill.

"Thank you," Ginny smiled as she reached out.

"Careful," the brunette warned with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to spill that all over you in your current state."

"Hm?" Ginny mumbled, looking confused. She sat up and looked down at herself and her eyes widened in comprehension. "Oh, I see," she responded, now seemingly more awake. She blew on the beverage briefly before taking a tentative sip. "Why so concerned, 'Mione? Like what you see?" She grinned.

Hermione gave a short, lofty laugh. "Yes, in fact, I do like what I see. It'd be a shame to ruin it," she indulged the redhead as she sat down.

Ginny rolled her eyes with a smile. "And hey, this isn't fair. I don't get to see you naked."

"Not my fault you slept in," Hermione remarked as she took a sip of her drink.

"Not fair," Ginny insisted with a sidelong glance. "I'll have to do some research, but I'm sure there's gotta be a spell that I can use to remove your clothes."

"Ginny," Hermione scolded through a laugh. She would've said more, but the comment inadvertently got her mind hunting for a spell that could actually accomplish such a thing. She took another sip of her coffee in quiet contemplation.

"How'd you sleep?" Ginny asked, breaking Hermione's concentration.

"Hm? Oh, fine," Hermione replied as images of her bad dream flashed through her mind.

"Is something wrong?"

Hermione looked over at her worried lover and gave her a reassuring smile. "No, everything's more than fine." She paused. "I just had a bad dream last night, that's all."

"Oh," Ginny said, her expression still one of concern as she set her coffee down on the nightstand. "You should've woke me. What happened in your dream?"

Hermione laughed uncomfortably, contemplating what to say to the younger girl. "Well, it's just a dream. It doesn't mean anything."

"Still, tell me about it," Ginny encouraged.

Hermione's eyes flitted around the room before falling back upon Ginny who was still watching her intently. "Well, it had to do with you." Ginny nodded. "In my dream I woke up and it was this morning. I was still in my bed and everything, except you were gone." She looked to Ginny for a response, other than her forehead creasing, she kept quiet. Hermione went on. "I looked all over the flat for you, but all your things were gone, except you left me two things," she counted them out on her hand, "the ring and a note."

"Oh I don't like where this is going," Ginny grumbled as she leaned back against the headboard, pulling the covers up with her.

Hermione laughed, now able to with the knowledge that the whole situation had just been a dream.

"Anyway, I don't fully remember details, but essentially your note said that you couldn't accept the ring and that you didn't want to be in a long-distance relationship with me. You said that our lives were going different directions and coming here showed you that. You said that you were going to say something about it last night, but you decided that it was better to just sleep with me instead," Hermione smirked as she took advantage of her creative lease on the subject. She laughed out loud at how Ginny's mouth dropped open.

Before Ginny could interrupt, Hermione hurried to tell her the rest of the dream. "So I was crying and ran to the fireplace. I was going to floo to the portkey, but it wouldn't work. You know how in dreams sometimes you try to run and you can't, I guess it was like that. So yes, I was terribly upset and that was essentially it," Hermione finished lightly.

"Sweet Merlin, your subconscious thinks I'm a total prat," Ginny stated, sounding appalled.

"No," Hermione insisted. "I think it's just that it all seems too good to be true. Part of me must be afraid that something will fall apart," she hypothesized with a slight shake of her head before taking another sip of her drink. Of course this thought had crossed her mind prior, but she had been fairly successful in keeping it in check recently. And really, she had always been concerned on some level about Ginny getting bored with her and not being willing to cope with their different paths in life. Admittedly, that concern had diminished significantly over time, but with Ginny leaving now and the magnitude of their actions yesterday, well, Hermione guessed that it made sense for these fears to reappear.

Ginny sighed heavily, drawing Hermione's attention and the brunette couldn't help but feel guilty.

"I'm not leaving you," Ginny stated evenly. "I'm definitely taking the ring with me and will use it frequently, I'm sure," she continued. "Yes, our lives are changing and there's uncertainty in both our futures, but I do know that above all, I want to be with you."

Hermione smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Gin. Me too."

The redhead let out a scoff before taking a moment to drain the remainder of her coffee and set the cup back down. "That dream sounds like the rubbish Percy was trying to feed me at New Years. And that's exactly what it is: rubbish."

Hermione couldn't help herself and laughed softly at the very serious look Ginny was giving at the moment. "Sorry," she apologized through another laugh. "You're so solemn right now. And I believe you, you know. So agreed, then? It's rubbish."

"Complete rubbish," Ginny smirked.

A comfortable silence filled the bedroom and Hermione took another small sip of her drink.

"Are you done your coffee?" Ginny asked.

Hermione looked into her cup and swished the contents around. "No, not quite. Wh-" The brunette's question was cut short as Ginny lunged forward and grabbed the cup out of her hands.

"Too bad," the redhead chimed as she set it down next to hers, pushing Hermione down on the bed simultaneously.

Hermione barely had time to react before Ginny's lithe and extremely naked body was on top of her, the redhead's lips crashing into hers in a kiss.

"Mm, coffee breath," Ginny teased.

"Mm, morning breath," Hermione retorted as she tickled Ginny's sides.

"Hey!" Ginny protested with a laugh before reaching into Hermione's jeans pocket and pulled out her wand. "Fine," Ginny said as she gave a flick of her wrist, still planting kisses on Hermione the entire time.

The brunette smiled when Ginny kissed her lips again.

"Minty fresh," Ginny proclaimed. "Now, let's get you out of these bothersome clothes."

Hermione and Ginny stood a good 20 feet from the bundled newspaper that lay on ground, other witches and wizards already gathered around the portkey and awaiting their departure back to London.

Ginny checked her watch. She sighed before stating in a remorseful voice, "Well, portkey leaves in a couple of minutes. I should probably head over."

Hermione nodded, blinking back tears that she'd previously kept at bay, and not entirely trusting her voice at the moment. She felt Ginny watching her closely, and avoided looking the redhead in the eye. Instead, she reached out and straightened Ginny's collar and smoothed out the shoulders of her shirt, letting her hands linger and ultimately rest there.

"I'll miss you," Ginny whispered as she went to close the space between them.

Hermione immediately choked back a sob and pulled Ginny in tightly, the girl nearly losing her balance at being moved so abruptly. The brunette buried her face in Ginny's neck, which served to somewhat muffle her sniffles. As Ginny's arms closed around Hermione, the older girl held onto Ginny with a level of desperation, not wanting to let her go.

"Gin," was all she could manage to say, and even then, it came out a mere whimper.

Soon, Hermione felt Ginny laying a series of soft kisses along the side of her face and the redhead spoke, "I'll message you with the ring as soon as I get home. And I'll send an owl, too, for good measure." She laughed quietly.

Hermione forced herself to pull back out of their embrace slightly, just enough to look Ginny in the eye and give her a nod of acceptance. "Okay. I love you, Gin. I'm going to miss you so much," she said, focusing very hard to keep further hysterics under wraps.

"I love you too," Ginny replied with a warm smile. "Don't forget it," she warned playfully. With another smile, Ginny leaned in and kissed Hermione on the lips. Hermione relished the feeling, trying to absorb the moment, only to have her bottom lip begin to tremble as emotion started to bubble up once more.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as Ginny pulled back. This time, the redhead's eyes were wet with tears of her own.

"Don't be sorry," she said gently.

She checked her watch and a look of disappointment crossed her face. "I really have to go," she said regretfully, before leaning in for a quick, final kiss.

"I'll message you soon," Ginny called as she took a step back.

Hermione tightened her grip on Ginny's now outreached hand and refused to let go just yet. A moment later, Hermione admitted defeat and reluctantly nodded, her lips pursed tightly together and a large lump in her throat. She couldn't speak. Ginny gave her hand a squeeze before pulling back, their fingertips lingering in a last, fleeting moment of contact. The two girls held each other's gaze until Ginny turned to jog over to the portkey. The brunette's body willed her to take a step forward in an effort to follow after the redhead, but her mind told her that she couldn't go. She lifted up a hand in a weak, half-hearted wave as Ginny glanced back to flash a smile before she placed her hand on the newspaper and disappeared.

AN: Not the longest chapter, which means that I will have to post the next chapter sooner. True, there wasn't a whole lot of progress in this chapter either, but hey, it's their last bit of time together for quite a while! Anyhow, thank you to everyone for your support! Have a great week :)