Chapter 41

Ginny POV

Finally, Ginny was done with her very last end-of-year exam. She walked out of the classroom especially thankful as she still found it difficult being in the same room as Demelza, and headed outside for some sun and fresh air. She walked down to the lake for a quick stroll along the shore, then went up to Gryffindor Tower to get ready for the Third Task. She hadn't been outside as much as she would've liked over the past month, so any time she could get out on the beautiful grounds she was sure to take advantage of it.

Her last training session with Juliette was a little over a month ago, when they'd practiced Keeper moves. A few days later, the entire Quidditch pitch had been shut down to be used for the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament. It was just as well, as Hermione had insisted on Ginny upping her studying to every single night during the week, and on Saturdays. Hermione had allowed Ginny to have her Sundays free, and for that Ginny was incredibly appreciative, as she was mentally exhausted by week's end. Even with how tired she was, she was grateful for all of the studying she'd been able to do with Hermione. She felt confident about how her exams had gone, and she enjoyed spending so much time with her these past few weeks. It felt a lot like the time they got to spend together at the end of last summer, easy and comfortable. Of course, Krum was also there for a good amount of the study sessions, but most of the time they hardly knew he was there, he was so quiet. The first time she saw him after her argument with Hermione in the library, she made sure to apologize to him, and he very graciously accepted her apology.

As she walked through the corridors leading to Gryffindor Tower, Ginny reflected on her third year at Hogwarts. When she had started the year, Hermione was barely talking to her, and she very quickly found herself in a relationship with Demelza. Now at the end of the year, she's not talking to or seeing Demelza if she can help it, and her friendship with Hermione felt stronger than ever. She sighed, still frustrated that she screwed up her relationship with Demelza so badly. Deep down she knew that with it being her first relationship, it probably wouldn't have lasted forever, but she didn't think it would end quite like that.

Stepping through the portrait hole, she found scattered groupings of fellow Gryffindor students relaxing after the final day of exams. She smiled when she spotted Hermione, sitting in one of the armchairs by the unlit fireplace, reading. She walked over, trying to sneak up on Hermione from behind.

"Don't even think about it Ginny…" Hermione said sternly, her eyes still glued to her book.

"How did you know it was me?" Ginny whined, plopping down in the chair opposite Hermione.

"Do you really think I don't notice you when you enter a room?" Hermione glanced up from her book to see Ginny's confused expression, "The red hair, Ginny," Hermione quickly clarified.

"Whatever…" Ginny said, getting comfortable in the chair, "Anyway, my last exam went really well! I know I was a bit ungrateful and whiny at times during our study sessions, but thank you for your help."

"See? I told you it'd be well worth all the time and effort," Hermione smirked while reading her book.

"Hey, why don't we put the book down…" Ginny said pointedly, forcing Hermione to glance up at her, "And go on a short walk down by the lake before the Third Task. I was just down there, and it was really nice after being cooped up inside all day. Your book will be here tonight when you get back, and besides, the wildflowers are gorgeous right now," Ginny grinned at Hermione, knowing she couldn't resist a good wildflower.

Hermione stared at Ginny for a moment, then sighed and closed her book. She went upstairs briefly to put her book away, then returned to the common room and set off with Ginny for the lakeshore.

"Well, I guess you were right Ginny, this really is nice," Hermione said when she felt the sun warm her face as they made their way onto the grounds.

"Come again? What was that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked over at the redhead, "You were right, Ginny."

Ginny smiled triumphantly as they began to walk along the shore. Apart from a few other students, the lake was primarily deserted and quiet, which added to the relaxing environment of the late afternoon sun and the warm, gentle breeze that was pushing the water to softly lap against the shore. They walked in silence for a bit, admiring the foliage growing along the edge of the forest, until Ginny spoke.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Hmmm?" Hermione responded lazily, clearly very relaxed by the stroll they were taking.

"Can I ask you a question about Juliette?"

"Sure."

"How did you two get together?"

Hermione paused, looking over at Ginny as they continued to walk.

"You said that initially you were planning on cutting her out and ignoring her, like you told me to do after my accident back before the Yule Ball, but then you said you got together with her after you got to know her better and spent more time with her…"

"Mmhmm, that's correct, Ginny," Hermione said, tentatively.

"So, there's something missing there, isn't there? What happened to cause you to start spending time with her and getting to know her?" Ginny asked, looking genuinely at Hermione.

Hermione appeared to be at a loss for words. She opened her mouth, only to shut it again without saying anything, and repeated that a few times.

"Look, if I'm crossing some sort of line here, please let me know. I've moved off of the whole 'she's not good enough for you' train, so that's not why I'm asking. I'm just curious, that's all."

Hermione took her time before responding, again very slowly, "She offered to help me with something, and I accepted her offer…"

Ginny furrowed her brow at Hermione, "What did you need help with? How would she have known if you needed help with something?"

"When I was having a hard time in September, well, that didn't go away for a long time… I was still having a hard time when the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students showed up… And well, Juliette noticed. And she offered to help me."

Ginny glared at her, remembering the talk they'd had down by the lake about Hermione having a hard time.

"Why didn't you come to me? I told you that if you needed help, you could come to me."

"I know, Ginny, I know. At that point you were with Demelza and well… I didn't want to complicate things…" Hermione muttered.

"It wouldn't have complicated things, Hermione. Me being with Demelza wouldn't have affected my ability to help you."

Hermione was silent, staring at Ginny.

"So, she helped you through your hard time? How'd she do that?"

Again, Hermione remained silent.

"Wait, what exactly was making your life so hard at the beginning of the year?" Ginny asked, curiously.

Still, Hermione hadn't spoken. Ginny noted the faintest blush appear on her cheeks.

"Hermione…?"

Hermione POV

Hermione was frozen, not sure which question Ginny had just asked was worse.

How did she help you through your hard time? What caused your hard time? Maybe if I wasn't such an idiot in trying to be honest with Ginny, this mess wouldn't have happened! If I wasn't going to be completely clean with Ginny about everything, then why even begin to go down that road?

"Hermione…?" Ginny asked again, gently

Hermione continued to stare back, not sure how she'd be able to get out of this mess she'd created.

"Hermione…? Whatever it is, you can tell me. It can't be that bad…" Ginny said softly, looking at her with concern now.

- BANG -

They both whipped their heads around to where the sound of the cannon came from, up in the Quidditch stadium. Then they heard the sound of raucous cheering from the spectators as well as the jubilant music being played by the pep band.

"The Third Task!" they both shouted, nearly in unison.

They started running back to the castle headed for the Quidditch stadium.

As they arrived at the stadium, Ginny gently pulled Hermione to face her, "We'll talk later. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Hermione nodded as calmly as she could, but inside her mind was impossibly stressed, How am I going to get out of this?

They climbed up the stairs into the Gryffindor supporters section and found Harry, Parvati, Ron, and Lavender, as they squeezed past many fellow Gryffindors.

"It's a maze, first one to the Triwizard Cup wins! They're all in now, Cedric and Krum entered first, followed by Fleur a bit later!" Harry explained, shouting over the noise of the crowd and band.

Hermione looked over at the other stands, in search of Juliette. Once she found her, she tapped Ginny on the shoulder.

"I'm going to go sit with Juliette!" she shouted, pointing to where Juliette was.

Ginny gave her a nod, then focused back on the maze.

Ginny POV

Ginny watched as Hermione squeezed her way back through the deafening crowd on her way to Juliette. Harry gave her a little bump with his elbow to get her attention.

"Where were you two? We were worried when you didn't show up in the common room like we agreed!" Harry yelled.

"Out for a walk by the lake! It was very relaxing and beautiful, and we lost track of time talking!" Ginny shouted back.

"Good! It's nice to see the two of you back to how you were during the summer! All of the study sessions, walks by the lake, it's great that the two of you are back to being such great friends, Gin!" Harry smiled, ruffling Ginny's hair. Ginny smiled back.

"What's going on?" Ron yelled at the two of them across Lavender and Parvati.

"Hermione and I were together down at the lake, that's why we were late, we were talking!" Ginny shouted, leaning across Harry to try and ensure Ron would hear her over the deafening cheering and music in the Quidditch stadium.

Ron gave her an impressed and proud look, then grinned widely, and shouted, "Way to go, Gin! When we heard that Demelza had dumped you for good, Harry was sure that Hermione wouldn't leave Juliette for you, but I knew that if you wanted her, Hermione wouldn't be able to resist the Weasley charm! Feelings for Weasleys don't just go away, no matter how fit the current partner is!"

He offered her a high five, squishing Lavender, Parvati, and Harry together as the three of them and Ginny stared at Ron in shock.

"Ron… They said talking, not snogging!" Lavender explained as she stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"She said they were down at the lake, talking!" she emphasized the last word loudly.

Ron's jaw dropped, he looked apologetically at Harry before sitting down, busily immersing himself in watching the Third Task.

Harry looked at Ginny, who was frozen, staring out into space, "Gin, do you want to go talk?"

She didn't respond. She couldn't.

"Ginny?" he shouted, nudging her.

"Is what he said… True…?" she asked, just barely loud enough for Harry to hear.

Harry didn't respond, he just stared at her, frozen. Then he leaned over to speak into her ear, "I think it would be best if we spoke about this in private."

She looked at him, then nodded, "After the Third Task," she said, turning to face the maze once again.

She tried to focus on the Final Task, but she couldn't think about anything but what she'd just heard come out of her brother's mouth.

"…Feelings for Weasleys don't just go away…" Hermione has feelings for me? How is that even remotely possible? She's clearly very happy with Juliette, so how can this be true? It can't be…

Ginny was silent as the spectators around her got increasingly louder the longer the Third Task went on. She looked across at the other stands and found Juliette and Hermione together. Hermione was standing in front of Juliette, leaning back against her with Juliette's arms wrapped securely around her. Ginny shook her head dismissively, there was no way this was actually true. The boys were obviously mistaken. She ignored the stab of anger in her stomach that had just flared up, chalking it up to being overstimulated by the noise around her and the obvious misinformation Ron just told her. It of course had nothing to do with Juliette and Hermione, she'd gotten used to them by now, it had been months.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted as they saw a figure land hard at the entrance of the maze. They stood up, and while the cheers from the Hogwarts supporters diminished quite significantly, the Durmstrang students whooped and hollered, stomping their feet and banging on the wooden rails of the stands as they made their approval known that Viktor Krum had won the Triwizard Tournament. He was battered and dirty, but Ginny thought that she could detect a hint of a smile on Krum's face as he held the Triwizard Cup up towards his classmates. Ginny looked over to Hermione, who had reacted almost as strongly as the Durmstrangs, beaming as she clapped and cheered for Krum. Juliette looked less pleased, but still was clapping her hands up above Hermione's head, albeit rather lackluster.

Cedric and Fleur had appeared at the entrance of the maze as well, both looking extremely disappointed. The Hogwarts students chanted Cedric's name, and he gave a half-hearted nod of appreciation while keeping a hand firmly on a gushing wound on his opposite shoulder. Fleur was incredibly displeased, as were the Beauxbatons delegation, who merely gave her a dull, short-lived applause. She tried to hold her head high, but was struggling to do so.

"Congratulations to the Durmstrang Champion, Viktor Krum, on capturing the Triwizard Cup and ultimately becoming the Triwizard Champion! Well done, Viktor, well done, all. This has been a marvelous year, hopefully one each and every one of you will be able to reflect back on fondly. We will be having our End of Year Feast the day before the Hogwarts Express is set to return to London, and I sincerely hope that our guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang alike will stay to break bread one last time with us before they depart for their homes. All for now, may you all have a pleasant evening," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling calmly out into the crowd.

As the stands emptied rapidly, it only took a few minutes for Harry and Ginny to be alone in the stadium.

Harry looked at Ginny, nervously, but after the indisputable evidence she saw of Juliette and Hermione during the Third Task, she was sure this would be a short conversation.

"Harry, I think you and Ron are mistaken. Hermione can't possibly have feelings for me, she's with Juliette and they're absolutely mad for each other. I literally just saw them cuddled up in the stands. I don't know where you got this information from, but I'm sorry, it was obviously a bad source," Ginny said with a laugh, shrugging her shoulders.

"This isn't really mine to tell…" Harry started.

"Harry! Didn't you just hear what I – "

"Look… All I'm going to say is that you should talk to Hermione. It's not my place to go through all of the details with you, it's not mine to tell," Harry repeated, seriously.

"It's true then…? Hermione… Had or has feelings for me?" Ginny asked slowly, studying Harry's face closely for some sort of hint at the truth.

Harry paused, pursing his lips, then repeated, "It's not mine to tell…"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Alright, how long did these theoretical feelings last, then? Surely if she's been with Juliette for months now, she can't still fancy me, if she even ever did…"

Harry bit his lip, looking as if he wanted to say something, but just couldn't, "Ginny, look. You're my friend, but Hermione's also my friend, and I don't want to betray her trust."

"But it was okay to tell Ron, was it?" Ginny asked, glaring at Harry slightly.

Harry blushed a little at this, "Yes, well, let's just say I've learned my lesson, haven't I? Plus, it just kind of slipped out one night, I didn't mean to tell him – "

Ginny grinned at him, knowing she'd caught him, "So it is true?"

Harry paled, "Ginny – "

"Harry just tell me! How long?"

Harry sighed, and ruffled the back of his messy dark hair, closing his eyes tight in frustration. "She's fancied you since the summer…"

Ginny's jaw dropped. She didn't speak, she didn't move, she just stood there in absolute shock.

"Wh - why wouldn't she… Why did she… I…" Ginny stammered in shock.

"And the last we spoke about it was the evening of Fred and George's birthday party, just after Demelza broke up with you…"

Again, Ginny's jaw dropped.

"But… She was with Juliette then…"

"Yeah, I know. I told her I thought it was a bad idea for her to share a bed with you if she still had lingering feelings for you, but she insisted you needed her. You know how she gets when she's protecting someone she really cares about…"

Ginny's head was absolutely swimming.

She fancied me the night we shared a bed? She fancied me months into her fancying Juliette? She fancied me during the summer, the beginning of term, all the way through until April? Why wouldn't she have said something, anything?

"Harry, why didn't she tell me?"

Harry gave her a pained look, "That really isn't mine to share with you, Ginny. I've told you what I told Ron, that's enough, don't you think?"

Ginny paused, "Well, do you think she still – "

"Ginny, I don't know, and it's not any of my business…" Harry said sternly.

"Well, do you think I should… What do you think I should do? Should I ask her…?"

Harrys stared at her, studying her face hard.

He sighed, "I don't think that's a good idea… She's with someone else right now, Gin. She's been with Juliette for months, and she's happy," Harry hesitated, choosing his words carefully, "She had an incredibly hard time fancying you in the fall. And I know it was her own doing for not telling you or really anyone for that matter, but I don't think Hermione deserves for you to interrupt her happiness right now… It wouldn't be the right thing to do, I don't think… I know I wouldn't want to break up a happy couple, at least not directly, even if I really fancied one of the people in it…"

"I – Harry, I don't fancy her…"

Harry raised his eyebrows at her, "Then why do you want to ask her about this? If you don't fancy her, and she's with someone, then why would you bring it up?"

Ginny frowned at Harry's words.

He's right… What do I care if Hermione still fancies me if I don't… Do I…? Even if I did fancy her, it would be wrong to try and break her and Juliette up… She's clearly very happy… I don't want to make her unhappy…

Ginny nodded in agreement with Harry, "Do you think I should just let this go? Move on like I'd never heard Ron open his big mouth tonight?"

Harry paused, then said slowly, "I think for now, for Hermione, that might be for the best…"

Ginny scooted closer to Harry and put her head on his shoulder, "Why are girls so ridiculously complicated?" she sighed.

"No idea," he conceded, laughing a little.

They sat like that for a while, before getting up and leaving the Quidditch stadium for Gryffindor Tower.