Chapter 13

Hermione POV

Hermione was frozen in her spot on the log, trying to process what Ginny had just told her. Ginny was looking at her, she had to say something, and quick.

"Oh?" was all that Hermione could get out.

"Yeah… It came out of nowhere too… I was up early, trying to leave as quietly as possible, and I woke her up. I was kneeling by her bed and we were talking about how I was up early to get ready to celebrate your birthday today. Everything was normal. Then I got up to leave, and she pulled me back down and pulled a feather out of my hair… And then she tried to kiss me." Ginny stated. Hermione tried to study Ginny's face for any sort of emotion while she struggled mightily to keep her own feelings in check.

"She… Only tried to kiss you? You didn't… You didn't kiss her?"

"No… I was so shocked I jumped up," Ginny admitted with a small embarrassed chuckle. "I hope I didn't hurt her feelings. I apologized loads, and I asked if we could talk about it later. I just don't know what to say or what even happened to lead to this."

"Do you have feelings for her?" Hermione asked, a little curtly.

"What? No… I mean… I don't think so… I've never really thought of her in that way before..."

"Did you feel like you wanted to… Kiss her?"

"I don't know…" Hermione paused at this. "I don't know" and "no" were certainly not the same answer.

"Well… Do you trust her?" Hermione asked delicately.

"I… Yes, I trust her. But what does that have to do with – "

"Ginny, if you trust her and you're unsure about if you wanted to kiss her or not, maybe this is a way for you to figure out your feelings for her. Is that something you would want to do? Have you really never thought of her as more than a friend?" Hermione asked in a determined tone.

"Well… I mean I've noticed her eyes before. I just… This is all so new to me. And I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Then when you talk to her about it, you can bring that up. Clear, honest communication is always best," Hermione stated while internally laughing cruelly at herself for what a hypocrite she was being right now.

"I guess you're right… I mean, maybe it could turn into something good? We do have a lot of the same interests. And she is pretty cute. And apparently she likes me… I just don't understand how I never noticed anything or saw any signs," Ginny furrowed her brow.

"Maybe there weren't any signs? Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing? You won't know until you ask her. She'd be crazy to not want to be with you, if she is interested though." Hermione stated, as casually as she could manage.

Ginny smiled at Hermione, "Thanks Hermione. For the compliment…" The younger girl nudged the older girl while giving her playful grin, then her expression changed to one of sincerity, "And for talking to me about this. I really appreciate it. It's nice being able to talk to you again."

Ginny scooted closer to Hermione and leaned her head on Hermione's shoulder. Once again, they sat in silence for a bit, looking across the lake, taking in all of the beautiful scenery of the area surrounding Hogwarts. Hermione could feel how relaxed and content Ginny was leaning against her, and she felt that she had made the right decision. It was the right decision to accept this birthday walk today. It was the right decision to let Ginny back into her life and to continue the friendship they'd built over the summer. And because of that, it was the right decision to try and push Ginny into Demelza's arms. Clearly, avoiding Ginny had done nothing to get rid of the feelings Hermione had for the girl. If anything, it had just allowed them to grow. So, a change in strategy was necessary, and Hermione felt that seeing Ginny with another person would surely do the trick. At least, that's what her brain was saying. Her heart, on the other hand… It felt like it was breaking. Maybe that was a good thing though? Maybe the quicker she ripped the band-aid off and saw Ginny happy with another girl, the quicker her heart would break and reform without feelings for Ginny?

"Ginny…" Hermione said softly as she interrupted their silence.

"Mmmm… Yes?" Ginny replied, almost sleepily.

"Thank you for this birthday outing. I really appreciate the effort you went through and thought you put into it took to make it special for me. And I'm glad we're talking again. I'm sorry I tried to shut you out."

Ginny turned her head to look up at Hermione, and smiled, "You're welcome, Hermione."

"Let's start heading back. It sounds like you've got a big conversation this afternoon, and I would like to get some studying done."

"If you insist…" Ginny said begrudgingly, taking her head from Hermione's shoulder. Hermione noted how much she missed the contact of Ginny against her body.

"I do insist, let's go. Who knows, you might have a girlfriend by the end of the night?"

Ginny froze, and looked at Hermione with the tiniest bit of fear in her eyes.

"I was kidding Ginny. Remember what I said, there's no timeline for any of this relationship stuff. You do what you're comfortable with, don't worry about anyone else, okay?"

"Okay… Thanks Hermione…"

The two got up, Ginny packed up the basket, and they set off back around the lake towards the castle. The return trip was mostly quiet. Ginny seemed to be lost in her thoughts, and Hermione certainly was, anxiously hoping she had made the right decision to encourage Ginny to go after the girl who'd tried to kiss her this morning. Hermione's stomach twisted at this, but she ignored it. She was determined to get rid of these feelings that she has for Ginny.

Ginny POV

Ginny was elated with how well her morning and afternoon with Hermione went. They had spent a few hours together, walking and talking, then eating and talking, and it all felt like the past few weeks had been washed away. She was also incredibly grateful that she had her friend back so she could talk to someone about the Demelza situation, and Hermione was very helpful in that regard. She offered some great advice and was supportive, Ginny felt so lucky to have such a good friend on her side again.

As the evening grew closer however, Ginny could feel the impending conversation with Demelza coming, and it was making her nervous. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, like Hermione said? If so, is that what I want it to be? Would we just move on from it like it didn't happen? Or do I want her to have feelings for me? Do I have feelings for her too? Ginny's thoughts kept building on one another and working her up more in the process. She wasn't sure what she wanted, all she knew is that she was hoping that hearing Demelza's thoughts on the situation would clear some things up between the two.

As dinner arrived, she met up with Demelza, Colin, and Ritchie like usual at the Gryffindor table. She sat next to Colin and across from Demelza, like always, and for the most part it felt like a typical dinner for the four of them. Colin's commentary was nonstop, and the other three listened contently, occasionally getting a word in here and there. One thing that was different though was that Demelza was blushing every time her eyes met Ginny's, which in turn caused Ginny to blush as well. It had happened a few times before the boys caught on.

"Uh, what's going on over here? Have you two got some inside joke going tonight or something?" Ritchie asked suspiciously.

"Is it about me talking too much? I can stop, I know I've been rattling on about Herbology for a while now," Colin stated apologetically.

"No, no Colin, you're fine. And no jokes here Ritchie, you know us," Ginny answered as she gave the boys a crooked smile, which made Demelza blush harder and laugh a bit.

"Whatever you say Ginny…" Ritchie went back to listening to Colin, and Ginny looked back at Demelza and gave her a genuine smile.

"So uh Demelza, would you like to go back to our dormitory to talk? I've got a few questions about… Female flying tactics…" Ginny said awkwardly.

"Sure!" Demelza jumped up immediately. The boys stared at the girls dumbfounded, then Ritchie shook his head and again went back to listening to Colin's monologue about the funny thing Professor Sprout said to him last week. The two girls got up from the table, and headed upstairs.

"So… What have you got to ask me about female flying tactics, Miss Weasley?" Demelza teased as they walked through the corridor, nudging Ginny gently on the arm.

"Yeah… I wasn't very tactful, was I?" Ginny nervously ran a hand through her long, red hair.

"I thought it was cute…" Demelza said, with yet another blush spreading across her face. Ginny blushed at this as well, and they continued their trip back to the Gryffindor Common Room in silence. Every so often Ginny's hand would brush against Demelza's as they walked along, and every time it sent a little jolt through Ginny's body. She wasn't sure if it was just nerves or if it was possible dormant feelings that she did have for the girl, but whatever it was, she didn't necessarily mind it.

Fortunately, as they entered their dormitory, they found that they were the only two who had yet to return from dinner. They looked at each other for a second, and then Ginny motioned to her bed for the two of them to sit down. Ginny sat with her back to her headboard, and Demelza sat near the end of the bed, leaning against one of the posts of the four-poster bed, facing Ginny.

"So… About this morning…" Ginny started.

"Look Ginny, I'm sorry if I crossed a line. It just felt like in the moment I was feeling something between the two of us, and I guess I wasn't thinking and just leant into the moment. Really, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything like that. I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship, and I understand that could've easily happened with what I did this morning. If you want to forget it ever happened and move on, that's fine by me." Demelza took a deep breath as she finished her apology, and looked at Ginny nervously.

"I… I don't think you did cross a line…" Ginny started slowly. "Honestly Demelza, I've never thought of you as anything more than a friend. However… I've never thought of anyone as more than a friend…" Demelza looked down at this. "But… When you leant in to kiss me… I didn't not want to… I was just caught off guard and a bit surprised by what was happening. Was it just a moment and you went for it..? Or…" Demelza looked up at Ginny, urging her to continue talking. "Or do you fancy me?" Ginny finished the sentence as confidently as she could, but she didn't feel overly brave with Demelza staring at her.

"I mean… I've certainly thought about it… We've been friends for years, we have so much in common, and we get on so well… The news about what happened to you at the Quidditch World Cup traveled like wild fire that last week of summer and when I heard it, I felt nervous to see you… Nervous, and excited… I've never had feelings like this before for a girl, but I guess I couldn't have picked anyone better than you to fancy…" Demelza's face turned bright red at this, and looked away from Ginny. Ginny sat up from the headboard and moved down her bed to sit right in front of Demelza.

"Hey…" Ginny grabbed the girl's hands and held them gently. Demelza turned her head back to look at her, their faces were a few inches apart. "I don't know exactly how I feel… And I don't want to jeopardize our friendship either… But I know that when you tried to kiss me I… I think I wanted to, I was just scared and surprised. We don't have to jump into anything if you don't want to, but maybe… Maybe we take this slow and see where it goes?" Ginny said hesitantly. "Would you be interested in that? I mean we spend so much time together anyway, how much would really change?" Ginny gave the girl a crooked, reassuring smile.

"Ginny… Are you sure? I know this is all very sudden, and I don't want to rush you into anything or make you feel like just because I tried to kiss you that you have to – "

"I don't feel like I have to do anything. If I didn't want to do something, I wouldn't. Just ask any of my brothers," Ginny laughed as Demelza smiled at her.

"So… What does this mean?" Demelza asked tentatively.

"I think it means the two of us could try to spend a little less time with the boys… Obviously not all the time. But maybe every once in a while, we could spend time just the two of us?" Ginny suggested.

"I'd like that," Demelza smiled at the redhead.

"I mean I've never dated anyone before, so I don't really know… I'm very new at this…" Ginny admitted, blushing and nervously running a hand through her hair.

"Well… I have." Demelza smiled softly and gently took the hand Ginny was pulling through her long hair. Her grey eyes looked into Ginny's brown eyes, searching for the answer to a question Ginny was pretty sure she knew Demelza was asking. Ginny flicked her eyes down to Demelza's lips and then back up, and gave her a soft smile in return. Demelza raised her eyebrows, silently asking for confirmation one last time, and Ginny gave a small nod. Demelza moved one hand up to Ginny's cheek and brought her lips to Ginny's. It was brief, but in the few seconds that it lasted, Ginny knew immediately that she 100%, without a doubt, fancied girls. Not only that, but she knew that there was something there between herself and Demelza, something exciting and electric. Demelza pulled back so she could look at Ginny's face, making sure everything was alright, which made Ginny smile hard.

"I'm assuming that was okay?" Demelza asked with a bit of a laugh in her voice, taking in Ginny's grin.

"That is the very least you could say about that, actually," Ginny stated, as she took Demelza's face in her hands and kissed her again, this time with a little bit more passion. Once they parted, Demelza stared at Ginny, a bit awestruck at the girl in front of her. "So, I'm guessing this is how we could spend our time without the boys?" Ginny asked, laughing as Demelza went to pull her in for another kiss.