Sadly I do not own Harry Potter, however, I am the proud owner of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One DVD! :D
"Wow. Hermione, you're going to drive Ron crazy in that dress. His jaw will literally drop to the floor I know it!" Ginny Weasley exclaimed when she walked into the small, first floor bedroom that Hermione was now sharing.
She inspected Hermione who was standing in front of a full length mirror, her nose scrunched up with a curious look on her face, as if she had smelled something wretched but couldn't exactly place what it was.
"Don't look at yourself that way Hermione, you look gorgeous and you know it. Just for once in your life accept the fact that you are stunning and don't bother trying to fight it," Ginny reasoned.
It wasn't the fact that Hermione thought she was ugly or anything of the sort. She had grown out of her awkward stage a long time ago, but she never really thought of herself as pretty either. Yes, her wild, unruly hair was a bit more tamed, (thanks to a bottle of Sleakeasy's Hair Potion), and yes, she had put on a bit of makeup for today, but in Hermione's eyes, she still wasn't beautiful. Especially not when compared to someone like Ginny, or Fleur, or even Lavender. (As much as it might pain her to say it.) It's not that she couldn't try, sure she could. Anyone could really look good if they put in a bit of effort, but there were more important things in a person than their outward appearance. These thoughts went through Hermione's mind quite frequently. However, the scrunched up look on Hermione Granger's face was not because of the reason Ginny thought it was. Hermione was afraid of looking inappropriate.
Today was the day of Fred's funeral. She had tried to look nice for the day, as she thought that it might be fitting to send him off looking as though she had actually tried to look somewhat decent.
"Anyway, when are you and Ron finally going to get together? Harry and I did see you two downstairs the other night together, did something happen that you want to tell me about?" Ginny questioned with her eyebrows raised as if she already knew something. The question totally caught Hermione off guard. Of course, she had known that the question would be posed but not this soon. And most certainly not on the day that Ginny buried her brother.
It was ironic in a way, something as trivial as her and Ron being together was what was on Ginny's mind today of all days. But as she thought about it, Hermione realized that maybe this wasn't what was actually on Ginny's mind. Maybe the topic of her and Ron was more of a distraction from what they were all about to do. Bury Fred.
She could just ask Ginny how she was doing. Yes it would take some of the attention off of Hermione's love life, but it was also the right thing to do. She had been wracked with guilt about not asking Ron how he was coping; maybe this was her chance to make up for it. She turned around to find Ginny sitting on the bed looking at her expectantly.
"How are you?" was the first thing to come out of Hermione's mouth. Ginny's expression quickly turned from one of playful teasing to one of obvious unease. Not to mention that the twisting of her hands in her lap was a dead giveaway. Hermione recognized it as the same nervous habit that Harry had.
"I'm alright, I mean considering," was all she said. That answer wasn't enough to satisfy Hermione though. She wasn't one to give up, whether it was a measly answer like the one Ginny had just given her, or looking for a potion for Snape all night in the library. She sat down on the bed next to Ginny and put a hand over both of hers.
"Ginny, I can't possibly imagine what you feel like today. I may not have been as close to Fred as I am to Ron or you, but I did love him. Ginny, I am so…" Before Hermione could finish her sentence she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand from Ginny. With that, Hermione knew that she didn't need to finish her sentence, nor did she want to.
Ginny Weasley was not the kind of girl to get emotional. She was not the kind of girl to cry or be weak about anything. She had been toughened up from being the youngest of the family, not to mention the only girl. But there was no doubt that the prospect of burying her brother had cut her to the core. And Hermione knew this for sure when she felt a warm tear spill onto her hands that were still mingled with Ginny's.
She looked up at Ginny for a moment to find the young girl crying. Suddenly, Hermione was brought back to the days where Ginny used to cry over Harry in the common room and ask questions like, "Why doesn't he like me?" The girl from all of those years ago and the girl that Hermione was sitting with right then were no longer the same person. Yes, Ginny would in some ways always be the little girl who cried over Harry Potter, but she had grown into someone who was so much more than that. She had grown into a mature young women right before Hermione's eyes, and sometimes it was still hard to believe, but the proof was sitting in front of her. Sometimes though, maturity could be deceiving, Hermione supposed. Ginny might well be the strongest and one of the most mature people she knew, but even she had her moments in which she fell back into the young girl that she truly was.
Hermione was not one to overstay her welcome and she knew when it was time to leave. That was why she returned the squeeze to Ginny's hand, got up and left the room. But not before looking back to see Ginny smiling softly at her, right before shutting the door.
A/N: Ok, so let me take a quick second to explain myself. Yes, I do know that it has been MONTHS since I've updated and if there is actually anyone out there who is reading this story I am truly truly sorry for the dreadful wait. I've been going through a lot of personal issues lately and I really have just not been up to writing at all. Sometimes I would think about starting, (as I already had about 1/3 of this chapter already written,) but I would get into somewhat of a funk and put it off until later. So now I sit here at 1:00 in the morning getting ready to upload after only writing for about 30 minutes. Yeah I know, not too difficult right? Well even so I am sorry about this delay and I really don't play on another big one anytime soon. I'm actually about to start work on the next chapter now as I'm on Spring Break so I have time to spare. Although, this is taking away my attention from writing my research paper for history! OH NO! (As if I wasn't going to put it off until the last minute anyway!) So now onto an explanation for this chapter.
Originally, this was going to be a lot longer and go into Fred's funeral, which was supposed to be the main focus for the chapter. But when I sat down to write this I just couldn't get myself to focus on that for right now. I think on Easter Vigil I'll prob write about the funeral because it only seems fitting. (How many of you guys will be in church for the next four days straight as well?) Erghh, not that I mind too much. ANYWHOOO, although this is a very short chapter, I think I'm actually happy with it. I wanted to go into more detail with the whole Ginny/Hermione relationship and have them have a talk about what all is going on and explore more of Ginny's feelings about everything but it's just not how things worked out. In that aspect, I'm not particularly thrilled but this story is far from over and therefor there will be lots more time for that. I really find the whole Ginny/Hermione friendship intriguing because for one, it's not discussed a lot in the series. There are a couple of instances in which the closeness of the girls is shown, (i.e. HBP-my favorite, when Hermione tells Harry that it was her who told Ginny to go after other guys. Oh wait that was OOTP-my least favorite oh well. Still it shows that they talk and bla bla bla) but I don't think that the girls are made out to be such great friends because in a lot of ways they are very different from one another. But as the story goes on I want to delve into their relationship and hopefully get them closer as friends. I think it's important also for Hermione to have other friends in her life besides Ron and Harry.
So, yes this is going on forever I know sorry. Just keep reading if you want to know what's going to happen in the next chapter. It will be Fred's funeral. I don't know how into detail I will be going I most likely won't show the characters making remembrance speeches because I don't know if I would necessarily be any good at that and I don't want the chapter turning into utter bullocks. Hopefully it will also be a lot longer. Now I just have some requests of you all:
1. If there is anything in particular that you would like to see in the next chapter please let me know asap because as of now I am fresh out of ideas.
2. I am in the process of debating whether of not Hermione should go on a mission to find and bring back her parents. I don't know if it's a good idea and I don't know if I could write those characters of the situation so again please IDEAS & OPINIONS!
3. I am not one of those people who goes, "I'm not posting another chapter until I get so many reviews" but please, if anyone is reading this, do review or favorite or author watch or SOMETHING so I know whether or not I should continue writing at all.
Much love and happy readings! xx
p.s. will be hearing from me soon-promise!