Chapter 3

Ginny POV

Ginny woke the next morning as the gradual lightening of the sky began filtering in through her window, dawn dancing on her freckled face. She had been waking up with the sun since the day after her birthday, up and ready to get in an early training session. She sat up slowly, stretched her arms up over her head, and ran a hand through her slightly knotted hair. Looking around as her eyes began to focus, Ginny spotted Hermione sleeping across the room from her, facing the wall. She couldn't see her face, but she could tell she was still asleep by the slow and steady rise and fall of her back.

Ginny quietly spun, planted her feet on the cold wooden floor boards, and stood up. She delicately walked over to the trunk at the end of her bed and opened it, grabbing a jumper and a pair of joggers. She threw them on and as carefully as she could, quietly crept out her room. She got down the stairs and was nearly to the back door when she realized she had left her broom upstairs in her room. Ginny let out a sigh of frustration and rolled her eyes up at the ceiling before closing them firmly. She took a deep breath to settle herself, then turned around to head back up the stairs. Arriving at her bedroom door, she opened it as slowly and softly as she could.

"Ginny?" Hermione murmured while rubbing her eyes and sitting up slowly.

"Sorry Hermione. I was trying to be quiet and I guess in all of that effort I forgot my broom. Did I wake you?" Ginny whispered apologetically.

"Well, yes, but it's okay. The sun is up, so I can be up too."

"I'm really sorry Hermione."

"It's really not a problem at all Ginny. It looks like I'll be able to catch that sunrise you were talking about."

Ginny followed Hermione's gaze out the window. Hermione got up out of Ginny's bed and went over to the bench under the window, sitting down to take in the sun slowly emerging up over the most distant rolling hills. Ginny followed her to the window and grabbed her broom.

"Well, I guess that's some consolation for being woken up so early," Ginny muttered, obviously disappointed in her failed attempt to let her guest sleep in a little.

Hermione gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Honestly Ginny, it's fine. Don't dwell on it. Look, look at how pretty the sky is!" Hermione motioned towards the window with her head before turning back and looking out at the beautiful area surrounding the Burrow as the sun spilled out across it.

Ginny took one step closer and leaned against the bench that Hermione was seated on. Hermione was right, as per usual, the sky was gorgeous. The lightening of the dark sky that had woken Ginny up had turned to a warm purple and orange, and she could tell by the sun that it was going to be another hot day. Ginny smiled at this, before turning around with her broom and heading towards the door.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't completely ruin your morning, Hermione. See you later!"

"I promise you didn't, have a good training session!"

After her morning training session, Ginny returned to the Burrow drenched in sweat. She rinsed off quickly before throwing on a t-shirt and shorts and heading back outside to do some chores. Her favorite chore by far was tending to the chickens. She found them to be so funny and loved to interact with each of the different personalities in the brood.

"Good morning, ladies," she greeted the flock as she dumped some produce scraps over the fence. The seven chickens sprinted out of the coop, flapping their wings as they ran, and dug in to the pile eagerly. "Okay, okay, settle down you lot! There's more than enough for everyone!" She laughed as a few of the chickens fought over the same piece of discarded watermelon rind.

Ginny walked down the fence line and entered the chicken coop. Each chicken had laid an egg in their respective nesting boxes, and Ginny picked them up and placed them in the makeshift pocket she'd made with the bottom of her shirt.

"Have a nice day!" She waved at the chickens who paid her no attention before heading through the back door and into the kitchen.

"Seven more eggs this morning, Mum," Ginny announced as she dropped the eggs off on the counter across from where Mrs. Weasley was working.

"Thank you, Ginny dear," Mrs. Weasley answered absent-mindedly as she continued preparing breakfast. Sausages and eggs were cooking simultaneously on the stove, while toast was piling up beside the focused witch. "Could you set the table for me? Nine settings will do, Harry should be arriving any moment."

Ginny started placing plates around the long table that sat in the center of the sunlit kitchen. She very much liked Ron's best friend Harry, and was looking forward to his arrival. He was a huge fan of Quidditch, but unlike her brother Ron, was actually good at the sport and enjoyed dissecting it almost as much as Ginny did. He was also often game for ganging up on Ron with her, which always made for a good time. There was a brief moment a few years ago where she thought she might've been developing a small crush on the boy, but it soon passed as their relationship grew further in the direction of one between siblings. Especially since Bill and Charlie were no longer living at home, it was nice to have a brotherly figure around who didn't give her a hard time. Percy often lectured her about not being well-behaved enough at school, Fred and George harassed her about beingtoowell-behaved at school, and Ron picked on her for whatever he could come up with because she was the only sibling younger than him, and all of their older brothers gave him a hard time for whatever they could come up with. Much like Bill and Charlie, Harry was the brother that Ginny had that always treated her with kindness and genuinely got along with her. He spoke to her like an equal, and she very much appreciated that.

"Good morning, for the second time," Hermione greeted Ginny with a smile as she descended the stairs and strode into the kitchen.

Ginny smiled back and lightly rolled her eyes as she placed cutlery next to the plates. "Good morning. What did you end up doing once I left?"

"Actually, I wandered out to the orchard. The wildflowers are absolutely stunning this time of year. Anyway, Ginny, I am so impressed with what a great flyer you are! Once I saw you, I realized I've never seen you fly before, and wow! You really are quite serious about Quidditch, aren't you?"

Heat immediately filled Ginny's cheeks as she blushed hard. "You watched me train this morning? Where were you? How did I not see you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever seen someone so focused." Hermione laughed kindly. "I planned to make myself known, but I'm not sure you would've registered my presence had I actually followed through and yelled out to get your attention. Besides, at the speeds you were flying, I didn't want to distract you."

"She's only flying that fast because of the broom. Not sure it has much to do with skill," Ron declared as he came around the corner.

"Right mate, no doubt you'd fly circles around Ginny if you had the same broom. Hang on… I believe I remember you trying out my Firebolt last summer and Ginny somehow managed to outmaneuver you on George's Cleansweep Five? What was it then? Oh right… The Firebolt wastoofast, and therefore any slower broom had an advantage agility-wise… Isn't that what you said? I think when we go to Quality Quidditch Supplies on our trip to Diagon Alley we can ask them to clarify once and for all what exactly was the matter that day when you were outflown on the world's best broom," Harry stated as he followed Ron into the kitchen, smiling broadly at his best friend.

Ron did not return the smile, and instead narrowed his eyes. "Whatever…"

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as she wrapped him in a tight hug.

Ginny placed the last setting at the table and walked around to hug Harry as well. "Thanks for that."

"No problem,." Harry chuckled as he returned the hug. "We can't let him live with a false sense of reality – wouldn't be healthy for the old boy." Harry patted Ron on the back, eliciting a reluctant laugh out of Ron.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. Mum is breakfast ready yet? I'm starving!" Ron whined.

Mrs. Weasley turned around, raised an eyebrow, and placed a hand firmly on her hip while using the other hand to point a wooden spatula at her youngest son.

"Ronald Weasley, it would have been ready sooner had you helped me like you were supposed to instead of sleeping in until just before you were due to go meet Harry! You're fourteen for goodness' sake, do you think I don't know your tricks by now to get out of work? Breakfast will be ready when it's ready, and you can serve yourself up last now for pushing your luck!" Mrs. Weasley glared at her son firmly, solidifying her message.

Harry stared at Ron with an amused look. "Wow, you couldn't even help make breakfast for your best friend's arrival? Way to make a guy feel special…"

Everyone laughed at this, and the tension instantly dissipated. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a huge hug and patted his cheeks gently, giving him a warm smile before returning to the eggs and sausages. As Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry moved to the living room to catch up on Harry's summer as Mrs. Weasley finished up breakfast, Fred and George came thundering down the stairs.

"Good morning, everyone!" George announced loudly upon hitting the living room floor.

"Mr. Potter, good morning, sir. Miss Granger, always a pleasure!" Fred greeted obnoxiously as he shook Harry's hand in an exaggerated fashion and then reached for Hermione's hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss. Everyone laughed boisterously as Hermione ripped her hand from Fred's grasp just before it reached his mouth.

"Honestly, Fred! For goodness' sake, you saw me last night when I arrived!" Hermione scolded while clearly holding back a laugh.

"Well, my apologies! I could hear little Ronnie being reprimanded from our room, so I wanted to get ahead of things and make sure I'm on my best behavior!" Fred curtsied at this, again to more laughter. "George, shall we help our dear old mum in the kitchen? I can't imagine the monster that wouldn't be willing to lend a hand to woman who does so much…"

"Certainly Fred! She does do so much, and we do so little... Least we could do is flip an egg or two!"

The twins each lifted an eyebrow at Ron, smirks plastered on their faces, as they burst into the kitchen to greet their mum and no doubt slow down the breakfast process. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione again laughed out loud, this time without Ron, who scowled and turned red. He opened his mouth to defend himself when Mrs. Weasley announced that breakfast was ready, so instead, the foursome headed back into the kitchen and found a seat at the table.

Ginny chose a seat near the end of the table, and Hermione sat down next to her, as Ron and Harry chose seats across from them. Fred plopped down hard next to Hermione, who gave him a stern look and a raised eyebrow of her own as if to send him the message to behave. George sat across from Fred, leaving a seat open next to each of the twins as well as the seat at the head of the table.

"Morning all!" Mr. Weasley walked into the kitchen from the back door. "Harry! So nice to see you!" He shook Harry's hand before sitting down at the head of the table. "So nice to have everyone here with us! How's everyone feeling about heading to the Quidditch World Cup tomorrow?" Mr. Weasley received many beaming smiles at this.

"Thank you again Mr. Weasley for orchestrating this and taking all of us along! As the one least interested in Quidditch, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're absolutely thrilled!" Hermione exclaimed with a wide smile.

"Yeah Dad, it's going to be incredible! To get to see some of the best Quidditch in the world and be around witches and wizards who are just as into in it as I am? It'll be a dream!" Ginny gushed.

"Well, don't get ahead of yourself there, Gin…" Fred chimed in.

"Not sure anyone there will be able to even come close to how obsessed you are with Quidditch…" George finished.

They grinned at her as she glared at them.

"Well, except for maybe Harry," Fred added. "Ron, we'd count you too if you put in any effort at all at getting better at flying or really any other skill needed to be good at Quidditch. Being a faithful fan of the failing Chudley Cannons doesn't quite count."

Laughter rocked through those around the table, even Ron had to admit defeat and join in with a chuckle.

"Enough picking on Ronald, Fred. Breakfast is served!" Mrs. Weasley announced as multiple plates of sausage, eggs, and toast flew over and set themselves on the table. She sat down next to Fred, giving him a stern look, before her husband offered her some eggs.

"Where's Percy?" Ron asked as he stuffed his mouth full with food.

"Oh, he's up locked away in his room working diligently. Such a hard worker, that one," George answered, glancing up at Fred with a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Working?" Harry questioned. "Gotten a job already, has he?"

"Oh, yes! He works at the Ministry, and we couldn't be prouder," Mrs. Weasley replied with a beaming smile.

"Yes, we're so proud of our former Head Boy. I believe that ground-breaking article of his on cauldron thickness should be hitting the presses any day now. What do you think George, front page of the Daily Prophet?" Fred asked.

Everyone except Mrs. Weasley laughed.

"Now, he has worked very hard, and he has accomplished a lot! Everyone has to start somewhere, right Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley looked at her husband.

"Oh... Um... Yes, Molly dear, of course! We are very proud of Percy, and I'm sure he'll be very successful in whatever facet of the Ministry he strives to work in," Mr. Weasley replied as he cut his laughter short.

The rest of the table shared knowing looks before they settled in to eat.

After breakfast, Ginny headed back out into the back garden while Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to Ron's room to help Harry unpack and continue catching up. The late August morning sun was warm on her skin and clothes, but not uncomfortably so. Butterflies and bees were busy at work, visiting the different flowers that were scattered throughout the garden. Sporadic clumps of lavender filled the air with that familiar sweet summer scent. As Ginny tied her hair back, Fred and George walked up behind her.

"Ready Fred?" George asked.

"Ready George. Ready Ginny?"

Ginny gave the two a look. "Let's just get this done, shall we?"

The trio began de-gnoming the surrounding area, picking up the gnarled little garden gnomes as carefully as they could and flinging them up and over the hedges. About an hour passed before they were done, and the three went into the Burrow covered in dirt and glistening with sweat.

"All done, are you?" Ron teased from his seat at the table, smirking at his siblings.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione were all seated at the far end of the kitchen table, talking. Ginny, Fred, and George all gave him looks that were nearly indistinguishable – looks of absolute annoyance.

"Yep, all done for the day. How about you take that smart mouth of yours out to the orchard this afternoon for a Quidditch match? Or will you be too busy sitting on your arse like you've done for most of the summer?" Ginny baited her brother.

"Fair enough… But who are the poor saps that'll end up on his team though…" Fred muttered to George.

"I heard that!" Ron shouted as Harry, Ginny, and Hermione laughed. "And what exactly are we supposed to do now thatthis onehas her own broom? The teams are uneven!" he complained as he motioned to Ginny.

"Well Ronnie, I think that as the one with the slowest broom,by far, you should man the baskets and the rest of us will play two versus two against you," George suggested.

"I second that!" Fred chimed in immediately.

"Well, it sounds like it's settled Ron. Should we go get you mentally prepared then?" Harry chuckled as the two got up to begin the trek up to Ron's room. "Meet you all back down here in a bit?"

"Sure thing! Looking forward to seeing you out on the pitch Ronnie!" Fred laughed as he and George split Harry and Ron and sprinted up the stairs in front of them. This left Ginny standing by the back door and Hermione still in her seat at the table.

"Well, that certainly escalated quickly," Hermione observed.

"Yeah… I'm sorry. I've just been taking a lot of flak from Ron over the past few weeks. There's only so much I can take, you know?"

"Oh no, you were absolutely right in how you handled Ron. I'm just not sure I'm prepared for the possible blood bath that may occur as a result," Hermione winced.

"Eh, it'll be fun for most of us. Ron might not have the best time, but maybe it'll help him improve. Realistically, Keeper would be his chance to make the Gryffindor Quidditch team, especially with Oliver no longer being with the team. It's not our fault that just so happens to be a position for him that brings the rest of us a lot of joy." Ginny grinned. "I'm going to head upstairs for a bit and then I'll be back down. Are you staying down here?"

"Yes, I think I'll stay down here and away from all of the… Energy… That's upstairs right now."

"Suit yourself, see you in a bit!"

Ginny crossed the kitchen, walked past Hermione, and made the short trip up the stairs to her first-floor bedroom. She looked at the Comet 260 sitting in the window and smiled. She felt confident with how her trainings had been going the past few days, especially the one this morning. Hermione was right, she had been flying as fast as she could today, really trying to push the limits of herself and her broom. She couldn't believe she had been so focused that she didn't even notice Hermione on the fringe of the orchard clearing. Actually, she could believe it. She'd been so immersed in the trainings lately that everything around her had faded away. Flying and Quidditch was her passion, and it was so easy to allow herself to just submerge herself in it completely. She started to visualize herself playing against her brothers and Harry this afternoon. She imagined weaving in and out as fast as she could, her broom instantly reacting to every move she wanted to make. She saw herself scoring on Ron again and again and again. She grinned broadly at this as the confidence welled inside of her - she was excited to show off her skills to the boys today.

She strode over to the trunk at the base of her bed and dug for her green Holyhead Harpies t-shirt. It might've been a little bit much to wear the shirt in the pick-up match, but it was her favorite to fly in. She swapped her dirty chore worn shorts out for a more athletic pair, and then reached down to the bottom of the sweat-drenched t-shirt she was wearing, grabbed it, and pulled it up and over her head.

"Ginny are you guys going to need me for this match or can I – Oh Ginny, I'm sorry!" Hermione had entered the room as Ginny was pulling on her Holyhead Harpies t-shirt.

"No worries, Hermione." Ginny shrugged as she laughed lightly. "I'm sure it's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Yes, well you're quite right… I just feel bad walking in on you like that," Hermione said apologetically.

"No need to feel bad. Just like you said this morning when I woke you up, it really isn't a problem at all." Ginny smiled at the older girl reassuringly. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

"Yes. Do you think the boys will want me to attend this pick-up match, or can I get a bit of light reading in instead?"

"Honestly Hermione, if you wanted to pass on this, I'm sure you'd be fine doing so. Plus, it sounds like you've already gotten your fill of watching Quidditch this morning." Ginny gave Hermione a small, crooked, almost shy, smile. "Hermione… Were you really actually impressed by me this morning?"

"Yes Ginny." Hermione smiled back at her. "I really was."

"Yes!" Ginny shouted as she whizzed past Ron. "What's that make the score? Tied at 140?"

Ginny circled back around from behind their makeshift Quidditch goalposts. Three weatherworn 4x4 posts stood at the far end of the orchard clearing, each topping out at different heights. What looked to be three large produce baskets with the bottoms busted out had been fixed to sit at the tops of the posts, creating hoops. Ginny flew past George, high fiving him, as Fred and Harry were hovering next to each other, creating their next plan of attack. Ron, who had gone after their old Quaffle that had landed on the edge of the trees behind the goalposts, flew towards the group.

"Yeah, yeah, tied at 140. Can we call it first to 150 wins? I'm tired of this tie-breaker crap, and I'm hungry!" Ron whined at the group.

"Oh Ronnie, buck up. You're barely even doing anything!," Fred shouted from across the field. "Which is why we've each scored on him 14 times…" he muttered to Harry, which got a laugh out of the younger boy.

Ginny flew to stop next to George. "What do you think? They'll start with the Quaffle, is there anything we can do to stop Harry?"

"Honestly Ginny, I think we just hope Ron makes the stop. We can't keep up with Harry when he's on the Firebolt. I sure do love that advantage for us when we're at Hogwarts, but it almost makes me feel bad for all of the other teams that they have to deal with this. Not too bad though." George grinned.

"Alright… Well, if Ron somehow does make the save, would you be up for a Porskoff Ploy?"

"Sure thing Ginny, let's go for it. Oh Merlin's beard, here they come!"

Fred and Harry had taken control of the Quaffle and were speeding down the pitch towards them. Fred was in possession, then Harry, then back to Fred. They wove around each other and suddenly Harry had the Quaffle and was clearly looking to slingshot around the back of the goalposts. Ron pivoted with Harry, protecting the goalposts the best he could. Harry tossed the Quaffle to Fred who had moved to the front side of the goalposts as Harry had drawn Ron to follow him, but Fred never received it. Ginny, who knew she wouldn't be able to stay with Harry and hoped that Ron would move with Harry, was patiently waiting and watching for when Fred would arrive on Ron's blindside where the goalposts would be wide open. As Harry threw the Quaffle, Ginny sped forward and stretched out her arms as far as she could to intercept the pass intended for Fred. George whooped at this, and they sped off to the other end of the pitch to reset the play and begin their own attack. Ginny passed to George, who took off down the pitch as fast as his Cleansweep Five would take him. He too went around the backside of the goalposts to slingshot himself around, but instead of replicating the play Harry and Fred had just tried, George whipped around and then straight up as he made the sharp turn behind the goalposts. As soon as Fred and Harry both bit and tried to apprehend the Quaffle from George, George dropped the Quaffle as Ginny bolted directly at Ron, immediately catching and firing the Quaffle through the bottom right hoop. Their timing had been perfect, and they'd executed a perfect Porskoff Ploy.

"YES!" Ginny shouted in excitement. She flew a lap around the clearing in celebration, with George trailing behind her. She then landed in the center where Fred, Harry, and Ron were now standing, already having dismounted their brooms.

"You got us on that one, baby sis, nice job!" Fred offered her a high five.

"Seriously Ginny, that was some great tactical flying out there! I know there aren't really going to be any open Chaser spots this upcoming season, but have you been thinking about trying out for the house team?" Harry asked.

Ginny smiled at this, as this is exactly what she wanted to hear from her brothers and Harry. Again, she didn't want to get a look for the team just based off of who her family is or who she knows, she wanted to get an opportunity based on what she could do.

"We'll see. I mean, I know those Chaser positions are pretty locked up, but I wouldn't mind starting out as a reserve and being able to work with and learn from the three girls, and I guess you lot as well. Or, you know, I could always go out for Keeper, I hear there's no real replacement for Oliver that anyone's been talking about." She smirked as Harry, Fred, and George laughed and Ron frowned. "I'm just kidding Ron – Keeper is all yours." Ginny laughed and punched him on the arm reassuringly.

The five of them threw their brooms up over their shoulders and Ginny tucked the Quaffle under her arm as they began the walk back to the Burrow, discussing all of the possibilities for the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year, as well as the excitement they had for the Quidditch World Cup the following day. Ginny couldn't wait for tomorrow. She'd get to see the best of the best executing Quidditch at the highest level possible. The boys dropped their brooms off in the broom shed, Ginny held onto hers as she was still insistent on keeping it up in her room with her. As they entered the back door of the Burrow, they were greeted by Mrs. Weasley, who once again was busy working in the kitchen.

"Goodness, you five are sweaty! Go on upstairs and get cleaned up, dinner will be ready soon!"

The five climbed up the stairs and Ginny peeled off from the group first, knocking on her door before entering.

"Come in!" Hermione's voice rang out from inside the room.

Ginny entered the room to see Hermione sitting on the bench under the window with Crookshanks, reading one of her schoolbooks for the upcoming term.

"How'd it go?" she asked as she looked up at Ginny.

Ginny grinned. "Really well, actually! George and I beat Harry and Fred 150-140. We were going back and forth in a tie-breaker for a bit, but then Ron got hungry so we decided to end it at 150. The last few plays were pretty great, and George and I pulled off a play pretty seamlessly to win it." Ginny grin grew as she recapped the successful afternoon in the orchard.

"That's great Ginny, I'm glad it went well! I – " Hermione stopped abruptly as Ginny pulled her green Holyhead Harpies t-shirt up over her head and replaced it with a slightly nicer and significantly drier shirt for dinner. She went to change out of her shorts when Hermione jumped up suddenly.

"Ginny I – I'm going to go help your mum with dinner, see you down there!" Hermione rushed out leaving Ginny staring at Crookshanks.

Ginny was confused, not sure what the big deal was with her changing in front of Hermione. Living in a dormitory at Hogwarts, she'd changed in front of her dormmates loads of times, and she assumed Hermione had as well. She shrugged. Regardless, she didn't want to make Hermione uncomfortable. She filed this away and would make sure to either change only when she knew Hermione wasn't around or she'd change in the bathroom. Once Ginny had swapped her shorts for some light cut-off jean shorts, she headed downstairs for dinner.

When Ginny arrived in the kitchen, the boys were nowhere to be found, and it was just her mum and Hermione in the kitchen. Her mum was hard at work churning out chicken and ham pies and keeping an eye on the potatoes boiling on the stove, while Hermione was tossing a salad.

Ginny walked over to Hermione and under her breath said, "Hermione, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable up there."

Hermione's cheeks turned light pink as she blushed slightly. "There's nothing you need to apologize for, Ginny. I just realized I hadn't been very helpful to your mum since I got here yesterday. My leaving had nothing to do with you."

"Are you sure? Seriously Hermione, it's not a big deal, and I'll be more aware of not changing around you if you're uncomfortable. I don't want you to be – "

"Oh Ginny, don't be silly. I'm not uncomfortable." Hermione insisted, giving Ginny a stern look.

"Okay…" Ginny replied reluctantly. "It just seemed like – "

"Ginny! Let it go!" Hermione nearly shouted. Ginny froze at this, looking at Hermione with wide eyes. Hermione had never raised her voice at her before, and it seemed like an odd thing to get accelerated about.

"Okay, got it." Ginny agreed.

"Good." Hermione huffed as she returned to tossing the salad.

Ginny walked outside and sat down at the table that had been set up in the back garden by Percy and her dad. She felt horrible, like she had done something wrong. But she hadn't done anything wrong. Hermione was insisting that everything was fine, but it didn't feel like she meant it. Ginny put her elbow up on the table and put her head in her hand, continuing to think about the situation while she watched bees and butterflies float through the garden, visiting flower after flower. Letting it go would probably be the best path forward, it truly wasn't a big deal, she just couldn't get over the fact that it felt like Hermione was keeping something from her, and she had no idea what that something could possibly be. Again, she didn't really know the girl that well, but something in the pit of her stomach was telling her that something was off.

Her brothers started to join her at the table, followed by her mum, Hermione, and her dad transporting all of the food out to the back garden. Her oldest brothers, Bill and Charlie, had arrived since she went outside, so their appearance at the table was a welcome and joyful surprise to Ginny. The dinner was full of laughter and stories, as well as the feeling of building anticipation about the Quidditch World Cup the following day. Once the plates were nearly empty and everyone was full, everything was moved back inside and they all headed upstairs to get to bed early as their wake-up call for the following day was coming much sooner than any of them would like.

Ginny and Hermione got ready for bed separately, Ginny wanting to be mindful of not changing in front of Hermione or allowing vice versa to happen as she couldn't quite shake the day's events. Ginny was in her cot and Hermione was in Ginny's bed, and as much as she wanted to get to sleep, Ginny just couldn't shake the feeling she had about what had transpired between the two of them earlier.

"Hermione..?" Ginny asked softly.

"Yes Ginny?"

"…are you mad at me?"

Hermione exhaled. "No Ginny, I'm not mad at you."

"I really am sorry about earlier. Whatever I did to upset you, either making you uncomfortable or annoying you with thinking that I was making you uncomfortable, I'm sorry…" Ginny apologized.

"Ginny, I already told you, nothing's wrong. There's no need for you to apologize to me." Hermione rolled onto her side to look at Ginny, and Ginny did the same as she heard Hermione shift in her bed.

"Okay…" Ginny gave Hermione a soft smile that Hermione returned. "Are you excited about tomorrow? Even though you're not that into Quidditch?"

"Yes Ginny, I am. I know this might be a ridiculous question, but are you?" Hermione gave a soft smile back.

"I don't think I've ever been more excited for anything in my entire life." Ginny's smile widened into a beaming grin.

Hermione laughed. "Then let's get to sleep so tomorrow can come. Goodnight, Ginny."

"G'night, Hermione."