Chapter 59
Hermione POV
More than a month had passed, and Hermione had thrown herself entirely into her studies, which suited her just fine, as her O.W.L.s were coming up at the end of the school year. As her heart had seemed to have healed a little each day, she was finally able to return to the library without being overwhelmed by her memories of both Juliette and Ginny, so lately she'd made a habit of essentially spending every free moment she had deep in the library. When she was in class, she'd see Ron and Harry, but outside of class, she rarely saw them anymore. They were plenty busy too, however, as the upcoming Quidditch match with Slytherin was all they seemed to be able to think or speak about. It sounded like Angelina had them doing two practices a day, which Hermione personally didn't mind, as it created less of a chance of her running into Ginny.
Hermione had yet to have a conversation with Ginny. That was mostly due to the fact that she'd noticed that nearly everywhere Ginny went, Katie was there too. Not only that, but Katie had seemingly joined Ginny's fourth year friend group. Wherever Ginny, Demelza, Ritchie, and Colin were, Katie was there. Didn't she have any friends her own age? Hermione often thought this whenever she saw the girl with the younger crowd. The frequency of which Ginny and Katie were together confirmed Hermione's suspicion of the two of them becoming an item, and while it hurt Hermione to know that she'd blown her chance with the redhead, she assumed it was all for the best. If Ginny really wanted to be with her, surely she would've waited more than one week before moving on to someone else.
As she was leaving the library one evening and walking through the corridor, she nearly ran into Harry and Ron, who appeared to be returning from a Quidditch practice, based on their windswept hair and tired faces.
"Oh, hey Hermione! We were just heading to the Halloween Feast, care to join us?" Harry asked with a smile.
Hermione nodded and joined the two.
"Where have you been lately? It seems since your birthday you've been distant from us…" Ron said.
Hermione shook her head, "Honestly, I've just been focusing on my studies and trying my best to prepare for my O.W.L.s. I don't want to get behind. And Prefect duties tend to take up the bulk of my evenings, so I've got to use my time wisely during the day. I do miss you two, though. How's Quidditch training going?"
Harry smiled at this while Ron appeared to turn a pale shade of green, "It's going just fine! We'll be ready for the match in a few days, won't we Ron?" Harry said, clapping Ron on the back.
"Uh, yeah… More than ready…" Ron muttered weakly.
Hermione gave Harry a look, and he gave her an exhausted grin in return.
"I told you… It might just be best to let Ginny take my spot…" Ron suggested gloomily.
"It's not up to me, Ron. And besides, Ginny was picked up as a reserve player. If Angelina wanted her to be Keeper, she would've picked her up as a Keeper. You earned the position fair and square, remember that," Harry said encouragingly.
Ron mumbled under his breath, and Harry rolled his eyes and seemingly gave up on motivating Ron for the evening. Hermione had dropped her head to focus at the stone floor as they walked, trying to not think too hard about Ginny. Once they arrived at the Great Hall for the feast, that become much more difficult, as Ginny, Demelza, and Katie were all sitting together at the end of the Gryffindor table, laughing. Hermione followed the boys to the middle of the table and sat down, refusing to allow herself to look towards the redheaded fourth year.
The Halloween Feast was delicious, and as the end grew near and Hermione picked through a sweet-filled pumpkin trying to see if there were any Sugar Quills buried at the bottom, Ron called Ginny over.
"Oi, Ginny, come here!" he called down the table at her.
Hermione suddenly became even more invested in the contents of the pumpkin in front of her, refusing to allow herself to look at the girl who was soon to be a mere few feet from her.
"Yes?" Hermione heard Ginny ask, seemingly nervous.
"Tell Angelina you're in for Keeper. I can't do it," Ron said miserably.
"What? No, Ron, you're doing it," Ginny said firmly.
"No way! You outfly me every practice, and isn't this why we've got a reserve? To go in if a starter can't? I can't do it, I'll lose the match for us!" Ron whined.
"Ron, stop being such a baby! You're more than capable of doing it, so do it!" Ginny argued.
"Fine, I'll ask Katie and get her to talk to Angelina for me. She'll be on my side," Ron said defiantly.
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Hermione muttered under her breath.
Ron hadn't heard her as he'd gotten up to go talk to Katie at the end of the table, but it appeared that Ginny had. As Hermione looked up at the sound of Ron getting up from his seat at the table, she locked eyes with Ginny for the first time in over a month.
"You're right, Katie surely will be on my side," Ginny said coolly, "Why wouldn't she be?"
Hermione didn't know what to say. She stared at Ginny, wondering what she meant by that, trying to read the bright brown eyes she'd missed so much over the past month.
"How's Juliette?" Ginny asked, an edge to her tone.
Hermione was taken aback by the question, and before she could answer, Ginny had turned and was walking away towards the end of the table to join Ron, Katie, and Demelza.
Ginny POV
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Ginny heard Hermione mutter under her breath as Ron exclaimed that Katie would take Ron's side in the Keeper matter over her own.
What does she mean by that? After not talking to me for nearly six weeks after I admitted to her that I fancy her, she's got the nerve to make comments about my friendship with someone who at least cares enough about me to actually talk to me? What's she playing at?
"You're right, Katie surely will be on my side," Ginny said coolly, "Why wouldn't she be?"
Hermione looked up at her, and they locked eyes for the first time since the night Juliette showed up. That memory lit an immediate fire in Ginny's chest.
"How's Juliette?" Ginny asked, a bit harsher than she wanted to. Emotion had taken over her, and as soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't. Before Hermione was able to answer, she turned and walked away, back to her spot at the end of the Gryffindor table where Demelza, Katie, and Ron were now talking.
"Ron, you're more than capable of being our Keeper, why else would you be on the team?" Katie was arguing with the stubborn boy who was frowning now that he'd discovered that Katie, in fact, was not on his side.
"See Ron? You're our Keeper, deal with it," Ginny said firmly as she sat down beside him, across from Demelza and Katie.
Ron huffed, "I'm going to go talk to Angelina myself, then!" He got up and stomped over to the other end of the Gryffindor table where Angelina, Alicia, Fred, and George were sitting.
"There's no way she'll let him just not play, is there?" Demelza asked doubtfully.
"Nope, and he'd be mad to ask her in front of Fred and George," Ginny answered, watching as Ron sat down beside Angelina. She turned her attention back to Katie and Demelza to catch them smiling at each other. "What? What'd I miss?"
"Oh, nothing…" Demelza said softly, continuing to keep her eyes on Katie.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "You know, initially I agreed that this would be fine, but if the two of you are going to be this disgustingly cute all the time, then maybe I do have an issue with it after all."
"Tough," Katie said, shooting Ginny a look before smiling at Demelza.
Demelza and Katie had been seeing each other for a little under a month now. No one knew except for Ginny, Ritchie, and Colin, as Katie truly was very private about her personal life when it came to dating. Ginny suspected that something had happened to her, either a comment or something along those lines, that made her so private when it came to dating girls, but Ginny didn't pry. Katie could do what she wanted when it came to making her relationship public or not, and Demelza seemed more than happy to oblige, as long as she got to be with Katie. They certainly were cute, but Ginny wasn't really in the mood after the interaction she just had with Hermione.
Initially, she was going to try and talk to Hermione after the night that Juliette came to visit, but it became very clear very quickly that Hermione was once again avoiding her, just like she did last year. That told Ginny all she needed to know, that Hermione was still with Juliette and certainly didn't want to be with her, regardless of Ginny sharing her feelings with her. She already put herself on the line once, telling Hermione that she fancied her, she didn't feel the need to do it again when it was so clear that Hermione had chosen to stay with Juliette over her.
Suddenly, Ritchie and Colin joined them at the table.
"Where have the two of you been, you missed nearly all of the feast!" Ginny exclaimed.
"We were testing out a few products for your brothers… And uh… Let's just say they aren't ready yet…" Ritchie said, glancing over at Colin who looked incredibly pale.
"Nosebleed Nougat…" Colin said weakly, "Way too strong…"
"Have they still not gotten that one down yet?" Katie asked.
Demelza gave her a quizzical look.
"A few days ago at practice I got a pretty good nosebleed from a Bludger. Fred gave me what he thought was the end of the Nosebleed Nougat that would stop the bleeding. Instead, it was the end that starts the bleeding, and it was so powerful that I had to go to the Hospital Wing I was losing so much blood," Katie explained.
"Yeah, that's where we just came from. Madam Pomfrey wasn't too happy, and seemed a little suspicious of all the heavy nosebleeds coming from Gryffindor… I should probably let Fred and George know," Ritchie said before getting up and walking down to where Fred and George appeared to be giving Ron an incredibly hard time about his request to have Ginny replace him.
"Are you alright?" Ginny asked Colin, "Fancy any sweets or anything?"
Colin shook his head, "No, definitely no sweets…"
Ginny laughed lightly, "Oh, right, sorry."
"It's alright," Colin managed before slowly putting his head down on the table.
"Come on, let's go to bed then if you're not up for the feast," Ginny suggested, helping Colin to his feet.
"We'll come too," Demelza offered, both she and Katie getting up from the table as well.
The four of them set off for Gryffindor Tower. As they walked through the doors leading out of the Great Hall, Ginny risked a look back at Hermione, and found that she was watching her leave.