The Saturday before the Quidditch World Cup, Mr Weasley brought Hermione from her house to the Burrow by side-along Apparition. The moment she arrived, Ginny ran over to grab her hand, and started pulling her towards the stairs.
"Thank Merlin you're here!" Ginny said. "This house is so crammed full of boys, there's no room to breathe."
Mr Weasley said, "Ginny, don't you think you should introduce your friend?"
"Oh. Right. You know most of them, but that's Bill," she said, pointing. "That's Charlie. Guys, this is Hermione Granger. Don't give her a hard time. She's ridiculously smart, and way more dangerous than she looks."
Ginny's brothers smiled and waved and called out short greetings.
"Er, nice to meet you both. I'm not really…" Hermione said, blushing, as Ginny continued to pull her along.
When they reached Ginny's room, Ginny shut the door behind them, and explained, "I love my family, but when they're all home at once, it's a bit much. Plus," she added, "I couldn't wait to show you this!"
She took a scrap of used parchment and placed it on a metal tray, already covered in scorch marks. She pointed her finger at it, scowling in concentration. "Incendio!"
Her face broke into a grin when the parchment burst into flames.
"You did it!" Hermione exclaimed. "Wandless magic. I'm so proud of you."
"Yep. I've been working on the Summoning Charm, too." Ginny pointed her finger at Hermione's hips. "Accio Hermione's knickers!"
"Don't you dare!" Hermione squawked and clutched at her clothing. When nothing happened, she gave Ginny a puzzled look.
Ginny smirked. "I said I've been working on it. Didn't say I'd succeeded yet."
"Cute." Hermione reached out her hand towards the bed behind Ginny. "Accio pillows."
Several pillows flew over to smack Ginny in the back of the head.
"Ah! Stop!" Ginny complained. "Oh, you got it too! You have to give me some tips. That one's a lot harder than fire."
"I might consider it, if I knew you wouldn't use it on me."
"Of course I wouldn't. I don't think you're supposed to use it on people. Maybe in an emergency."
"Or on my clothing."
"I would never embarrass you like that in front of people!"
"Or when it's just the two of us."
Ginny grinned. "You should go into magical law. You have a keen eye for loopholes."
"As far as I can tell, Magical Britain's legal system consists almost entirely of loopholes. Do you know if the boys have managed wandless summoning?"
Ginny's eyebrows went up at this, but before she could speak, Hermione rolled her eyes and clarified, "And no, I don't want any boys using it on my clothing either."
Ginny put on a look of surprise. "The thought never crossed my mind. I don't know where you get such notions."
"Someone I've been spending a lot of time with must be a bad influence on me."
"Can't imagine who. But no, I don't think either of them worked on it much. Ron tried a couple of times when he wanted something out of reach, and was too lazy to get up off his arse to go get it. Turns out laziness isn't the best mental state for powering magic. And Harry's been busy with Sirius all summer."
Hermione gave a disapproving frown, but Ginny added, "To be fair, I haven't managed that one either."
"You just have to put the time and effort in, the same as anything else worth doing. How is Harry? He wrote to me at the start of summer all excited about Sirius staying with him, but I've only had a couple of letters from him since."
"Harry's been having a great time. His relatives weren't delighted about their summer guest, but they don't realize how lucky they are."
"How so?"
"Well, their house hasn't burned down in a mysterious fire, on some day while Harry happened to be out."
"We agreed we weren't going to do that."
"No, we agreed it would be hard to do without getting caught. That was before one of us learned to start fires without a wand."
"You still can't go around burning people's houses down."
"I don't need to, now."
Hermione shook her head, but let it drop. "It's good to hear things are going well for him. Like I said, I haven't heard from him much."
"The only reason I have is that he's been over here so often. It's not like he's been writing to me either."
She picked up a stack of postcards from her dresser, and handed them to Hermione. "See? All blank. He buys them, but never gets around to writing anything. He brings them over when he visits."
"It's nice that you've all gotten to hang out so much," Hermione said, flipping through the postcards to see the places Harry had been to.
"Don't worry. He hasn't forgotten you. He's been collecting something else during his travels, especially for you."
Hermione looked up. "He has? Well, he didn't have to. What is it?"
"I don't want to spoil the surprise." Ginny gave her a smug look. "I guess you'll have to live with someone knowing something you don't for a change."
"He'll be here tomorrow. I doubt the suspense will kill me before then. You're wrong about one thing, though. I'm sure he'd make the effort to stay in touch with you if he wasn't already seeing you so often."
"Maybe."
"Sirius is willing to take Harry traveling anywhere he wants, but the place he most wants to go is here to see you."
"And Ron. And mum, the way she dotes on him. And dad. Possibly even Fred and George, when they're not being complete arses."
"Are you saying you and Harry haven't been all over each other this summer, just like at school?"
"We haven't. Much. Not with my mother watching. But even at school, it's… not whatever you're thinking."
Hermione frowned. "I know you like to flirt, but I always assumed it was different with Harry. I never thought you were trying to be funny or embarrass him, like you do with me."
Ginny stepped in close. "Who says that's what I'm doing with you? Didn't you notice how I couldn't wait to drag you into my bedroom?"
Hermione stood her ground. "Nice try, but I don't get flustered as easily as I used to. You need to be careful. If he thinks you mean something by it when you don't, you could really hurt him."
Ginny backed off and moved to her window to gaze out at the woods. "He understands what it means to me. After everything, there's no danger of him seeing me as anything more than a friend."
"Which everything are you referring to?"
Ginny turned back to face her. "Everything with Riddle. I still haven't told you all of it. If I do, it has to stay between us. I mean Harry already knows, because he was there for me right after it happened, and I told Bill some of it when we visited him in Egypt. But no one else. Promise me."
"Alright, I promise."
"Right, then." Ginny took a breath and released it. "I told you Legilimency can let you do more than just see what's already in another person's mind. A real expert can also put things there."
"I remember. We agreed to stay away from that aspect."
"Yeah. Turns out Riddle doesn't have as many ethical limits as you might hope. I told you he made me see things, but I never went into detail."
"I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."
Ginny nodded and gave her a terse summary of the horrific images Riddle had forced into her mind.
Hermione held her hand and listened until she finished. "That's horrible. I never realized. Harry told us you were having nightmares after the Chamber, but I figured anyone would. Even from just the parts I knew about, I mean."
"I had reasons for not sharing the whole story. I didn't want anyone feeling even more sorry for me than they already did. But I also felt so contaminated by having that bastard in my head. I didn't want people looking at me, wondering if he was still in there."
"I'm sorry to make you relive it."
"I don't mind telling you, now that it's not as recent and fresh, but I don't want the whole world to know. There could be consequences if the wrong people found out I've been so close to such darkness."
Hermione grimaced. "Understood. Back when it happened, Ron warned us how abominably the wizarding world treats people who've been through experiences like that. No one will hear it from me. Not that I reacted much better, the first time you tried talking to me about it."
"At least you were willing to hear me out, rather than deciding to just lock me away, no questions asked."
Hermione nodded. "I still don't see what any of this has to do with you and Harry."
"When he came to the Chamber to save me, he put his hand on me to wake me. That's when I knew it wasn't another one of Riddle's lies. I guess I latched onto that. After we got out, whenever I had trouble accepting that the whole thing was over, and that I was safe, being able to feel that Harry was there and solid and real always helped."
"Oh. That explains why Harry was so desperate to get back to you."
"When?"
"When Madam Pomfrey kicked him out. Didn't Harry or Ron ever tell you?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Harry practically begged Ron to hurt him severely enough that he'd have to stay in the hospital wing overnight. I think they would have gone through with it too, if I hadn't told Harry to stop being an idiot and go get the Cloak."
"He was willing to do that for me?"
"It's Harry. Are you surprised?"
"I suppose not. It proves my point though. He's far too sweet for his own good, so of course he wouldn't refuse to comfort me. I like to think he gets something out of it too, but we both understand it doesn't mean anything more."
"Maybe that's how it started, but things can change. It might mean more to him now."
"He's had plenty of chances this summer. I've given him plenty of signs. I'm not as curvy as you, but whenever he's here, I've been wearing clothes that work with what I've got. As much as mum would let me get away with, anyway." She looked down at herself, then ran her eyes over Hermione's figure for comparison.
Hermione said, "Don't underestimate how oblivious guys can be. I don't think Harry or Ron or any of the boys in my year have noticed I'm a girl yet. And I'm almost two years older than you, because of how our birthdays happen to fall. You can stop staring at my chest now, by the way."
Ginny looked up with a smirk, though it fell away as she shook her head. "That's not it. He sneaks glances when he thinks I'm not looking, like all guys do, but I can't get him to do anything about it. And my mum sure thinks he's mature enough to notice girls and act on it. She was half convinced Sirius was dragging him around to brothels all over Europe."
Hermione gasped. "They haven't really!"
"Of course not. She got over it when Harry visited and told us how they've actually been spending their time. Before that, she'd been ready to think the worst. I guess Sirius gets that a lot. The truth coming out didn't change everyone's opinion of him overnight."
"Poor Sirius. The wizarding world can be so close-minded and judgmental."
"Yeah, but I sort of get it. My parents are open-minded about most things, and even they had doubts. They had to put aside years of thinking of him as the one who betrayed the Potters. Not to mention worrying about him lurking around Hogwarts this past year. Standing over Ron's bed waving a knife that one night certainly didn't help."
"I suppose finding out he was actually after Pettigrew didn't totally wipe away how scary it must have been for them."
"Right, though there's more to it. Sirius Black spent a long time in a Dark place, preyed on by Dark creatures. That sort of thing leaves a mark. But mum can't admit that's what she's really worried about. If she did, she'd have to face the fact that her formerly innocent little girl has been poisoned by darkness too."
"I'm sure she doesn't think that. Other people might, but not anyone who knows you. I thought the worst when I found out, but that was just my own ignorance, before I got to know you."
"I'm not so sure. People might forget, over time, if I act like a good girl, keep quiet, and fade into the background. I won't. I mean to fight, and fight dirty, if that's what it takes. Even if it means everyone will always have doubts about me."
"I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, the whole world wouldn't have to know. Not everything. Harry, Ron, and I have broken lots of rules, in the course of trying to stop bad things from happening. The rest of the school never finds out the whole story. They just fill in the rest however they like."
"I'm talking about worse things than breaking school rules."
"I know, but the same principle applies. If we have to do terrible things someday to stop Riddle, we just have to make sure we also control the story of what happened."
Ginny gave her an appraising look. "That's not the answer I would have expected from you."
"I won't stand by and let any of my friends get thrown in Azkaban for saving the world from a monster like Voldemort, but doing it the 'wrong' way. Besides, I haven't given up hope that Dumbledore or someone else powerful enough to be a match for Riddle will take care of him for good, so we never have to worry about things like that."
"The best anyone managed the first time around was when Harry's parents drove Riddle away for a few years, and we know what it cost them. Maybe I could step back and let others handle it if I didn't have my fire, and didn't think I could make a difference. But I do, and I can. I know I'm not in the same league as Riddle yet, but I'm going to keep learning and practicing until I can be an actual threat to him."
Hermione sighed. "I hope you're wrong about it being necessary, but you know I'm learning all I can too. Though I suppose I'd be doing that in any case."
"Yeah, I know."
They fell silent for a while, until Hermione asked, "Are things still weird between your parents and Sirius? Will it be a problem when they come over tomorrow?"
"Nah, it's fine now, though my dad was easier to win over than my mum. The first time Sirius came over, dad took him out to his shed to return an old motorcycle. It used to belong to Sirius, but somehow dad wound up with it after the war. Studying it helped him figure out how to make our old Anglia fly. Anyway, I guess they got to talking, because they were out there awhile."
"They bonded over cars and motorcycles and that fixed everything? Sounds a lot like how men sort things out in the Muggle world."
"I don't know what all they talked about, but my dad's pretty good at sizing people up if he talks to them long enough. He must have decided Sirius is alright."
"But not your mum."
"It took her longer. It helped when she saw Harry was a lot happier than the last time he showed up here, when coming from his relatives. Though she still thinks Sirius isn't providing enough structure." Ginny imitated her mother's voice on the last word, and other words and phrases as she continued. "She doesn't think it's appropriate for them to be traipsing and gallivanting about, all over creation."
"The postcards you showed me were mostly from Western Europe."
"That doesn't sound nearly as dramatic. Also, none of us were sure how you traipse or gallivant. Harry thought we should wait and ask you, rather than risk setting mum off by asking her."
"Honestly. No one thought of looking it up in a dictionary?"
Ginny shrugged. "Didn't seem that important."
"Was that when she accused them of… you know?"
"Whoring around? Nah, she didn't actually say anything about that in front of everyone. I overheard her and dad talking. He was having none of it, of course."
"By overheard, you mean you were eavesdropping."
"Let's not argue semantics. Anyway, everyone got along well enough at Harry's birthday party. Mum demanded we have it here rather than at his death trap of a townhouse, and Sirius was happy to agree. Having Harry here so often in general makes her feel like she's keeping enough of an eye on what he's up to."
"Sirius doesn't have his house fixed up yet?"
"I haven't been there, but Harry says it's a lot better. Lupin has been working like mad on it. Sirius too, whenever he's not traveling with Harry. That's part of why Harry has been here so much. Sirius wasn't about to leave him alone with his relatives, but doesn't want him wandering about Grimmauld Place until they get rid of the worst of the Dark creatures and cursed knickknacks."
"I wish I'd gotten back from France in time for his party."
"He appreciated the gift you sent."
"And it sounds like everyone is getting along now."
"Pretty much. Everything's good."
Hermione grew quiet as she chewed pensively on her bottom lip.
Ginny read her expression. "Remember, what we talked about before stays between us. You promised."
"I know, but I don't understand why anything you told me means you can't be more than friends, if you both want something more. Harry hasn't grown up with the prejudices the wizarding world has against victims of Dark magic. Look at how much he enjoys spending time with Sirius."
"Yes, and that's why Harry and I are as close we are, which is more than I ever expected, considering."
"Which shows he's not scared off by what happened to you. Have you tried talking to him directly about this?"
"Yeah. Down by the lake, right before school ended. I admitted I don't need his touch for reassurance so much anymore, and nowadays, I just like it."
"And?"
"Pretty sure he'd already figured it out. He said he likes it too, but then he left it there. If I was any more direct, he would have to be more direct about rejecting me. That wouldn't be much fun for either of us, and it might screw up everything. What we have works. If he wanted more, he must know he just has to ask."
Hermione sighed. "I don't know what to say. Keep being his friend, and if it's meant to happen, it will. Maybe try dating other people. You might find yourself developing feelings for someone else."
Ginny wrinkled her nose. "There's no one else I'm interested in. I mean thanks, but I wasn't looking for advice. I told you all this so you'd understand I'm not leading him along. Which means you don't need to worry, or talk to him about it. Right?"
"I guess."
"Hermione."
"Okay, fine. I guess I did promise."
"And you won't try to interfere in other ways."
Hermione frowned.
"Hermione."
"If you're sure that's what you want."
"I'm sure. Now, you were about to tell me about wandless summoning."
"You think you can distract me that easily?"
"By giving you a chance to talk about magic? Yes."
Hermione gave her a long look. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I said I'm okay with it."
"I don't mean you and Harry. I mean you. Why are you so sure the people who care about you see you as poisoned, unless you're afraid it might be true? Because it's not."
"I'm good. Really. So… about that explanation of summoning you're dying to launch into…"
"Alright, I won't press any more. For now. To begin, then, this is how I think about the spell. You might want to take notes."
