Chapter 21

"Ginny? Ginny Weasley?" Harry asked, shocked. Hermione looked out the window again, trying to hold back tears.

"Yes… Ginny Weasley. Our best friend's little sister, youngest daughter of my second family, and current girlfriend of Demelza, Ginny Weasley…" Hermione placed her head in her hands.

Harry gaped at her, still processing what he was hearing.

"How long…?" he asked.

"Since the summer… I don't know how it happened... I realized I liked girls at the beginning of the summer, and when I went and stayed at the Burrow and spent more and more time with her, I started to really fancy her…" Hermione admitted, blushing.

"If you like Ginny… Then why were you snogging Juliette in the corridor that night?" Harry asked slowly.

"She knows that I like Ginny… Apparently, she could sense it from how I was acting towards her at the Quidditch World Cup. And she…"

"She what?"

"She offered to help me forget about her… And I was just so desperate to stop my feelings for Ginny… I'd tried avoiding her, but that made it worse, much worse. But being around her is not much better. I thought once she got a girlfriend that maybe it would break my heart hard enough that the feelings would disappear quicker, but that didn't work either… So, when Juliette offered… Well… I took her up on it…" Hermione admitted, blushing deeply as she saw that Harry was gaping at her again.

"How often do you see Juliette to – "

"It only happened that one time! Something came over me that night… But once you interrupted and she had left, I returned to my senses and realized it wasn't the rational thing to do."

"So… You like Ginny?"

"Yes… But I will find a way to get over it. It's just been incredibly painful, these last few months, so that's why I've been how I've been. I want to be her friend, but it's so hard to be her friend while fancying her… I've just got push through it."

Harry was quiet, thinking.

"Hermione, I don't think Juliette's offer is such a bad thing…" he said slowly.

"Harry!"

"Not like that! Hear me out… You tried to avoid Ginny, and that made it worse. You tried to be friends with Ginny while she has a girlfriend, also terrible. Maybe… Engaging… With someone else would help you forget those feelings quicker? Or at least provide you with a distraction while you work through those feelings?" Harry suggested, earnestly.

"But it's wrong… I would be using her…"

"Hermione, it's not wrong. You said she offered. And that she understands completely what's going on with you and Ginny. It's not taking advantage of her. And honestly Hermione, she is so fit, she'd be the perfect distraction."

"Harry!"

"Okay, but seriously… Do you have any current plans to let Ginny know how you feel?" he asked genuinely.

"No… I don't."

"Then what are you waiting for? Distract yourself with Juliette. Maybe over time Ginny and Demelza will break up and if those feelings are in fact still there, you could look into trying to start something up with Ginny? Sitting around and drowning in your feelings won't be fun for anyone, especially not you."

"I don't think I can ever start something up with Ginny…" Hermione muttered sadly.

"What? Why not?" Harry asked incredulously.

"She's so much younger than me… And it would risk our friendship and my friendship with Ron and possibly my relationship with her whole family…"

"Hermione, it's not like you're decades older than her. It's less than two years. Ron would get over it, if he actually had a problem with it. And Hermione, the Weasleys love you. I'm sure that they would be incredibly happy if the two of you got together. Why wouldn't they want their only daughter and sister to be with someone as amazing as you are?" Harry smiled kindly at her, putting a reassuring hand on her back. "Outsiders perspective… Besides Ginny being in a relationship right now, there is no reason that the two of you should not be together… I actually think it would be pretty great, for both of you." He smiled again as Hermione stared up at him in shock, tears trailing down her face once more.

It was so reassuring to hear all of that from someone who truly knew the Weasley family and would know if it would be something that could possibly ruin relationships or not. Hermione had been so concerned about their age difference and the slight possibility that it wouldn't go over well with Ginny's family, that she never considered that a relationship with Ginny could be a good thing, even a great thing. And now… And now she had pushed Ginny into a relationship with a girl who was an exceptionally great match for Ginny, and they had been together for months… Hermione buried her head in Harry's chest and let the tears fall again. How could I have miscalculated this so badly? How did I let this happen? Why was I so scared of what other people might think?

"Hermione…" Harry said soothingly as he rubbed her back. "Wait it out… She won't be with Demelza forever… If you really want a shot at this, just wait it out… And there's no harm in distracting yourself with someone who offers to do so… Especially someone as fit as Juliette…" he chuckled, eliciting a small laugh out of Hermione as well.

"We'll see… Thank you Harry. For everything. I'm sorry I've been such a poor friend to you lately. I'll do better." She hugged him tightly as he continued rubbing her back.

"Of course, Hermione. And no worries. This whole "having feelings for people" thing is tough, but we'll get through it together. Or, I guess, you'll get through it with Juliette. Her way does seem to be much more fun than you crying all over me." He laughed and got a real laugh out of Hermione that time as well. She smiled at him.

"Thank you, Harry."

"You're welcome, Hermione."