Chapter 7
Ginny POV
A few weeks had passed since the start of term and everyone had settled in to their usual routines at Hogwarts. Classes were attended with anticipation and excitement initially, but the novelty of a new school year was starting to wear off as professors had begun assigning work for them each and every evening.
Ginny and many others were still dealing with the disappointment of a cancelled Quidditch season, so to compensate they had gotten together a few times to play pick-up matches out on the Quidditch pitch. Ginny actually considered this to be a silver lining, as she would be able to train with, get to know, and build chemistry with her possible future teammates on the Gryffindor team, as well as learn the tactics and tendencies of those who played for the other school teams. When she had time, Hermione would stop by to watch the pick-up matches. Ginny loved this, and felt something close to relief when she'd see Hermione up in the stands. Ginny didn't know quite what it was, but she certainly feltsomethingwhenever Hermione was around. Hermione had been such a good friend to her over the summer, she assumed it must just be what it felt like to have a close girl friend, as Ginny hadn't really ever had one of those before.
While Hermione had been stopping by pretty consistently to watch the pick-up matches, Ginny was finding it hard to catch up with her otherwise. She knew that Hermione was busy with her studies, as well as helping Harry and Ron with their work too. She also realized that not seeing her wasn't too out of the norm anyway, as before this past summer the two of them spending time together hadn't been standard at all. Before this summer, Hermione was just Ron's friend and really nothing more than an acquaintance to Ginny. But the brief time they'd spent together this summer had changed that completely, at least on Ginny's end, and she was left feeling a little empty without talking to the girl every day. It wasn't for lack of trying either. Ginny had asked Hermione no less than a dozen times if she'd want to grab breakfast together, or study in the library together, or even go out to enjoy the beautiful late summer weather out by the lake, but she'd always been too busy. Ginny had plenty of other people to hang out with and had been spending the majority of her time with Colin, Ritchie, and Demelza, so it wasn't that big of a deal that Hermione had been so hard to catch up with, but it had left Ginny feeling like something was… Missing…
It was Saturday, September 17th, two days before Hermione's 15th birthday, and Ginny was determined to see her and celebrate her birthday at some point during the weekend.
"Hey Harry? Ron?" Ginny approached the boys in the Gryffindor common room. They were engaged in what appeared to be a pretty competitive game of Wizard's Chess, which was saying something as Ron was very talented at chess, much better than Harry, and often crushed him quickly. "Guys?"
"One moment Ginny, let me just…" Ron was focused, clearly thinking hard, then a huge grin spread across his freckled face. "Checkmate!"
Harry groaned and slumped back in his chair. "Are you ever going to let me win?"
"Not a chance!"
"Oi!" Ginny yelled, interrupting the two boys.
They whipped their heads around to look at her, a bit shocked.
"What?!" Ron asked, clearly put off that the glow of his victory was cut short.
"What are you doing for Hermione's birthday?"
"When is it?"
"Ron, it's on Monday!" Ginny shot him a glare.
Harry laughed. "He's only joking, Ginny. Well, at least I think he is…"
"Yeah, of course I'm joking! You think I don't know my best friend's birthday?"
"Wait, I thought I was your best friend?" Harry feigned hurt.
Ginny huffed out a sigh, her patience wearing thin. "You can debate that later. Are you two doing anything for her birthday?"
"I mean, we've each gotten her something. Did you have anything else in mind?" Ron asked.
"I just… I haven't gotten to see her much since we got back to Hogwarts. We got on so well when she was staying at the Burrow, and I'd like to make her birthday special somehow. And selfishly, I'd like to spend some time with her. Can you two think of any reason she might not want to see me during her birthday weekend?"
They both shook their heads no.
"I'm sure she'd love some girl time with you, Ginny. All she's been doing is studying and hanging out with the two of us. That can't be too much fun for her." Ron shrugged. "And I know she misses you."
"How do you know that?"
"She's asked about you loads of times. I've told her to go talk to you herself, but she doesn't seem particularly keen on doing that."
Ginny frowned at this. Why wouldn't Hermione want talk to her?
"Regardless, Ginny, we think it's a great idea that the two of you spend some time together for her birthday. Anything we can do to help?" Harry asked.
"Uh… Yeah, actually there is," Ginny said, pulling herself out of her concerns about Hermione not wanting to talk to her. "Just make sure that you two are too busy to hang out with her tomorrow. And make sure you've got all of your work done that's due this next week. That gets rid of any of the excuses she's been using on me the past few weeks to not see me."
Ron and Harry stared at her, dumbstruck.
"How in the bloody hell are we supposed to get all of that work done by tomorrow?" Ron whined.
"Tomorrow morning," Ginny specified.
"Wha – " Ron started before Harry interrupted.
"Come on mate, it's for Hermione. We can do our work without her for once. We've got it Ginny, good luck tomorrow!" Harry got up and cleaned up the chess board while Ron pouted, before leading Ron out of the portrait hole, hopefully towards the library.
This left Ginny alone with her thoughts. She repeated in her head what Ron had said: "I've told her to go talk to you herself, but she doesn't seem particularly keen on doing that." Ginny furrowed her brow – she couldn't pull up anything she'd done to upset Hermione to the point of her not wanting to see or talk to her. She set her jaw, determined to make this birthday outing between the two of them happen.
Ginny woke early the following morning. She threw on a jumper and joggers before padding delicately across the floor, trying her best to leave her room without waking any of her dormmates. She got as far as the door before she heard her name.
"Ginny?" Demelza whispered. "What are you doing up so early?"
Demelza had pulled back her curtains just enough so Ginny could barely make out her face. Ginny walked over and knelt beside the bed so they wouldn't wake any of their other dormmates.
"It's Hermione's birthday tomorrow, so I'm up to try and make today special somehow…" Ginny whispered back, still a little unsure of how exactly everything she wanted to do with Hermione today would fall into place.
Demelza smiled. "Well that's very thoughtful of you, Ginny. Hermione's a lucky girl."
For some reason, Ginny blushed at this.
"Thanks…" she muttered.
She began to stand up to walk away when Demelza grabbed her arm.
"Wait!"
Demelza pulled Ginny back down to her knees, this time pulling her in closer as she had sat up slightly, perched on her elbow. She then moved to put her hand in Ginny's hair, and Ginny froze, shocked by the physical interaction. Demelza carefully pulled a feather from Ginny's slightly knotted locks.
"Must be from the pillows. I've found a few in my hair over the past few weeks as well." she smiled at Ginny, her light grey eyes looking into Ginny's bright brown eyes.
Ginny was completely frozen, her eyes locked on Demelza's. Her heart began to race as she followed Demelza's eyes move down her face to her lips, and then back up to her eyes. She leaned towards Ginny slightly, and Ginny bolted up.
"Uh – I've uh – I've really got to get going! I'm sorry – Sorry Demelza, I'm sorry," Ginny sputtered as quietly as she could.
"Ginny… It's okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't' have – " Demelza started, looking up at her apologetically.
"No, no, it's quite alright. I just – I've got to go. But I – Do you – Do you want to talk about this later?" Ginny offered awkwardly.
"Sure Ginny, if you want to," Demelza replied, clearly trying to read Ginny's expression.
"Good, okay, yeah…" Ginny ran a hand through her long red hair nervously. "Okay, sounds good. See you – See you later then!"
Ginny managed to get out as she stumbled out of the room into the hallway. She had taken a few quick steps down the hall towards the staircase when she collided with someone hard, knocking their things to the ground.
"I'm sorry!" Ginny gasped as she knelt down immediately to help pick stuff up. She realized how many books she was picking up and looked up to see Hermione standing over her.
"Ginny, why are you up so early? And why is your face so red?" Hermione asked, a hint of both surprise and curiosity in her voice.
"Happy birthday!" Ginny exclaimed, jumping up and handing Hermione her books.
"Thank you, Ginny… Although, my actual birthday is tomorrow..." Hermione's eyebrows were raised as she looked at Ginny inquisitively. "But you remembered my birthday?"
"Of course I remembered Hermione, how could I forget?" Ginny gave Hermione a big smile. "How would you like to do something special today, for your birthday? I'd ask you to do something on your actual birthday, but I'm assuming you wouldn't be interested in skipping class…?"
Hermione took her time, just staring at Ginny before she finally answered.
"Well actually, that sounds great… Today, I mean. You're quite right, I wouldn't be at all interested in skipping any of my classes. Harry and Ron gave me their gifts last night, and apparently they're busy today with some all-day Quidditch training session that Harry has planned for Ron. I was just going to spend the day in the library, but it has been a while since we've really gotten to spend some time together," Hermione admitted, albeit reluctantly. "And I guess spending some time with you for my birthday wouldn't be so bad…" she gave Ginny a small smile.
"Great!" Ginny beamed at this. "Meet me out at the lake around… 10 am? And make sure you're wearing shoes you can walk in."
Hermione nodded. "Sounds great Ginny, I'll see you then."
And with that, Hermione walked past Ginny and entered her dormitory.
Ginny leaned up against the wall of the hallway, processing what had just occurred. She was thrilled that the boys had successfully followed through and helped her with her plan to celebrate Hermione's birthday just the two of them today. She was also pleased that Hermione had actually accepted her invitation. With how hard she'd been to pin down these past few weeks, and what Ron told her last night, she figured Hermione would give her another excuse and continue to avoid her. Hopefully at some point today she'd be able to broach this issue with Hermione.
She ran her hand through her long hair, thinking about the things she needed to gather for what she had in store for Hermione, when she pulled out another feather. She stared at it for a second as everything that happened with Demelza came rushing back to her.
Had Demelza really just tried to kiss her?
Ginny tried to reflect on the interactions she'd had the past few weeks with Demelza. They'd eaten nearly every meal together, they'd had classes together, they'd played in pick-up Quidditch matches together, they slept in the same dormitory, but she'd never noticed anything that would've indicated that Demelza fancied her. Besides sleeping in the same dormitory, they'd done all of those things with Ritchie and Colin as well. Yes, Demelza had been kind to her, but that was true their first and second years at Hogwarts too, so why the sudden change? Ginny's newfound preference in girls was something that was different this year, but if Demelza also fancied girls, wouldn't she have told her by now?
Ginny sighed in mild frustration – girls are complicated. She shrugged and refocused on the task at hand – Hermione's birthday. She'd see Demelza later, and deal with all of this then. But right now, Hermione is what's most important.
Hermione POV
After spending two and a half weeks doing her best to keep her distance from the girl, Hermione would be celebrating her birthday with Ginny Weasley. She blushed at the thought, and then reprimanded herself for blushing. What was she thinking? After all of the hard work she'd put in, she's suddenly completely willing to undo it? She frowned, frustrated by the fact that she appeared to have little to no self-control when in the physical presence of the youngest run in – a literal one, at that – and suddenly her entire day belongs to Ginny…
Hermione sighed, and put her books down beside her bed. Like it or not, good idea or not, she had agreed to spend her the day with Ginny, who seemed to be incredibly excited about it. It would be fine, wouldn't it? She took a few deep breaths and kept repeating in her head: "It will be fine."
The past two and a half weeks had been tough for Hermione. After the first night back to Hogwarts with everything that had happened surrounding Ginny, her feelings for the younger girl, and everyone else's fascination with her and what had come out about her, Hermione had decided that some time apart would help the situation. She kept herself busy with her schoolwork, as well as with Ron and Harry's share of work. And then she would spend the rest of her time hidden away in the library, doing work that was outside of her classes, studying anything that sparked her interest – anything to keep her mind off of Ginny. She did allow herself to see Ginny occasionally, but only from a safe distance. She'd taken to stopping by the Quidditch pick-up matches that had begun between some of the more dedicated Quidditch players at Hogwarts. In this scenario she could see Ginny, but would have the protection of being up in the stands while Ginny was out flying around on the pitch. This kept Hermione from getting too close, which she was trying desperately to prevent at all costs.
Of course, she'd heard the mutterings about Ginny in the corridors and in the Gryffindor common room, and, unfortunately, in her own dormitory as well. The general consensus was that Ginny was a catch. Ginny was cute, Ginny was fit, Ginny was athletic, Ginny was funny, Ginny was the total package. From what Hermione had observed of Ginny, however, was that Ginny was still mostly oblivious to all of the attention she was getting. Hermione found that to be a bit annoying, but also endearing as well. Of course the hottest commodity of the third and fourth years had no idea what anyone thought of her because she was far too busy with Quidditch. Hermione smiled at the thought – Ginny truly was so dedicated to the sport. Hermione had even begun reading up on Quidditch to understand the game better, but also be able to help Ginny if she ever asked. Even though she was trying to limit her time speaking to and being around Ginny, she was still dedicating some of her library time to learning about her biggest passion. Hermione sighed at this realization, and shook her head. It had been two and a half weeks, and although she was resisting everything in her that was telling her to spend time with Ginny, her feelings had remained the same. In fact, it felt like the absence had just made her feelings stronger, if possible.
A few hours later, Hermione was dressed in a light sweater, jeans, and sensible footwear and was headed down to the lake to meet Ginny. Even though she was a few minutes early, as she made her way down to the lake, she could see that Ginny was already there waiting for her. Her heart skipped a beat, and her stomach filled with butterflies. Ginny looked up, saw Hermione, and waved excitedly. The butterfly wings beat faster. Hermione tried to even out her breathing, feeling it was ridiculous how much control this girl had over her. Once she reached Ginny, she pulled Hermione into a hug.
"Happy birthday Hermione," Ginny said into Hermione's soft curls. "Well, happy pre-birthday," she chuckled.
Hermione inhaled gently, breathing Ginny in. After the hug, Hermione stepped back, hoping her face wasn't exposing what she was feeling in the moment.
"Thank you. So, what have you planned for us today?"
"Well, I've been trying to catch up with you for weeks, and it seems that you've been incredibly busy with all of your studies, so I figured you could use a nice break. A walk along the lake, and lunch?" Ginny proposed, nervously awaiting Hermione's reply. She pulled a basket out from behind her to show she'd packed food for the two of them.
Hermione did love the wildflowers that surrounded the lake this time of year. She smiled appreciatively at Ginny. "That sounds great, lead the way."
The walk was long and relaxing as the two fell back into their routine from the summer seamlessly. They alternated between Ginny chattering away about Quidditch while Hermione listened and Hermione going on about her studies while Ginny listened. It was very easy, and so comfortable. They stopped a few times to look at the wildflowers, taking in the beautiful native colors around them. Eventually, they came across a spot that was somewhat secluded and offered a great view of Hogwarts across the lake. They sat down next to each other on an old fallen tree and Ginny opened the basket she brought. They ate while they continued their conversation, this time Hermione adding to Ginny's Quidditch talk and Ginny chiming in about Hermione's course load. Again, their conversation flowed effortlessly, and as they finished their lunch Ginny brought out two Sugar Quills, one for each of them.
"You know, only you would pick these as your favorite sweet," she teased lightly as she offered the Sugar Quills to Hermione, letting her choose which once she wanted.
Hermione smiled as she took one out of Ginny's hand. "They're vastly underrated, and I appreciate you remembering that they're my favorite."
"Of course," Ginny said as she returned the smile. "So, how's it feel to be nearly 15?"
Hermione sighed. "It feels like I'm old. A lot older than you."
Ginny laughed. "Okay, you're not that much older, really. Less than two years, and you're only one year above me in school. With my maturity, I feel like I'm just about the same age as you!" Ginny declared as she shot Hermione a crooked grin.
Hermione rolled her eyes lightly, considering what Ginny had just said. "If you say so Ginny."
It was quiet for a bit as they sat and took in the view of the lake.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked, a hint of reluctance in her voice.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, Ginny, what is it?"
"Have you been avoiding me?"
Hermione paused at this and turned to look at Ginny. Her bright brown eyes were looking into hers, clearly searching for the reason why she would've been hiding from her over the past few weeks.
"Ginny, I've just been very busy with my school work and everything I've wanted to add outside of my classes. But I have been going to some of your Quidditch pick-up matches, you've seen me there."
"Ron said that you've missed me. That you'll ask about me, and then dismiss his suggestions to talk to me yourself." Ginny's eyes had narrowed a bit, and Hermione knew she was being backed into a corner.
"Sometimes you come up in our conversations and I ask about how you're doing, is that not allowed?" Hermione's tone was quickly becoming a bit more defensive.
"Of course it's allowed, but that's beside the point, Hermione, and you know it. After everything that happened at the end of the summer, I guess I just thought that we would be closer friends at Hogwarts, but clearly I was wrong." Ginny turned away from Hermione, looking down the shore of the lake.
"Ginny I – I've just been busy, that's all. Okay?"
Ginny didn't respond or turn back to look at Hermione. Hermione placed a hand tentatively on Ginny's shoulder. "Ginny?"
Ginny responded, but still didn't turn to look at Hermione. "You're not a good liar Hermione. I can feel that I've done something to make you want to avoid me. I just don't know what it is."
"Ginny… Ginny please look at me."
Ginny turned, her eyes glistening with tears that she was fighting to keep from falling.
"Oh, Ginny…"
"Just… Please be honest with me, Hermione. You can be up front with me. I'm not a child – you don't need to keep stuff from me. Be honest and we can work it out. I care about you, and I appreciate our friendship, maybe more than any other friendship I have. So please, just be honest with me. I can take it, I promise."
Tears started to escape the Ginny's eyes now and she quickly wiped them away. Hermione softened at this, unable to maintain her rigid stance on the situation with how vulnerable Ginny was being. She reached out to wipe a tear from Ginny's cheek, but Ginny grabbed her hand before she could. "Hermione, what is going on? Just tell me, please."
"Ginny… You're right. It's not just that I've been busy. Which is true, I have been busy, but that's not completely it. I just… I haven't felt like myself since we got back to Hogwarts. I've been having a hard time," Hermione admitted softly as she took her hand back from Ginny's.
"Why wouldn't you talk to me about it? Maybe I could help?" Ginny looked at Hermione earnestly.
"I'm not sure that you can help. Ginny, I'm trying to get through it and process it on my own. If I believe that I do in fact need your help, I will ask. Otherwise, I'd like to keep it to myself. Is that okay? Can you respect that?"
Ginny stared at Hermione with an unconvinced stared back, hoping desperately that she'd just drop it.
"Okay… I can respect that. You promise if you feel like you need help, you'll ask me?"
"Yes Ginny, of course."
"Okay…" Ginny responded, seeming somewhat satisfied.
The two were quiet again for a few moments, until Ginny broke the silence.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"Something happened today, and I feel like I need to talk to someone about it. Can I talk to you about it?"
"I believe we just established that we can talk to each other about anything Ginny, of course you can talk to me about it. What is it?"
A blush formed on Ginny's cheeks and down her neck, and Hermione looked at her curiously.
"Ginny?"
"Well so… This morning… Demelza tried to kiss me..."
Hermione was frozen in her spot on the log, trying to process what Ginny had said. But Ginny was looking at her, so she had to say something, and quick. "Oh?" was all that she could manage to get out.
"Yeah… It came out of nowhere too… I was up early, trying to leave as quietly as possible, and I accidentally 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 said plainly.
Hermione tried to study Ginny's face for any sort of emotion while she struggled mightily to keep her own feelings in check.
"Shetriedto 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..."
Hermione took a deep breath, still trying desperately to maintain her composure. "Did you feel like you wanted to… To kiss her?"
Ginny shrugged. "I don't know…"
Hermione breath caught 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 guess 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 ridiculing 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…" she nudged Hermione 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. But maybe that was a good thing. 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. That could work, right?
"Ginny…" Hermione said softly as she interrupted their silence.
"Mmmm… Yes?" Ginny replied, clearly content and relaxed.
"Thank you for this birthday outing. I really appreciate the effort you went through and the thought you put into it 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."
Ginny groaned lightly. "If you insist…" she said begrudgingly, taking her head from Hermione's shoulder. Hermione immediately noticed how much she missed the contact.
"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…"
They stood up from the log, 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. Her stomach twisted at this, but she ignored it, steadfast in her determination to get rid of these feelings that she has for Ginny. Trying to avoid Ginny hadn't worked, but maybe this would. It had to, right?
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, Ginny could feel the impending conversation with Demelza coming, and it was making her nervous, her thoughts running wild. Maybe it really was just a spur of the moment thing, like Hermione said? If it was, would she and Demelza just move on from it like it didn't happen? Or did she want Demelza to have feelings for her? Did she have feelings for Demelza? Her thoughts kept building on one another and working her up even more in the process. She wasn't sure what she wanted – all she knew was that she was hoping that hearing Demelza's thoughts on the situation would clear some things up between the two.
As dinner arrived, Ginny met up with Demelza, Colin, and Ritchie like usual at the Gryffindor table. She sat next to Colin and across from Demelza as she always did, and for the most part, it felt like a typical meal 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 a light blush would form on Demelza's cheeks every time her eyes met Ginny's, which in turn caused Ginny to blush as well. It 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 rolled his eyes before going back to listening to Colin, and Ginny looked back at Demelza and gave her a genuine smile.
"So 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 would you like 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 admitted softly, with yet another blush spreading across her face. Ginny couldn't help but blush 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 other 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 up against her headboard, while 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 completely fine by me." Demelza took a deep breath as she finished her apology, and looked at Ginny nervously.
"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 really thought of anyone as more than a friend…"
Demelza looked down at her hands that were clasped tightly in her lap.
"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 really just something you felt in the moment and went for…?" Ginny broke off, taking a deep, settling breath.
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 with those soft, grey eyes.
"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 red at this, and she 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 to look at her, their faces 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, but 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 suggested hesitantly. "Would you be interested in that? I mean, we spend so much time together anyway, how much would change, really?" Ginny gave her 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 don't want to do something, I don't do it – 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 Ginny.
"I mean I've never dated anyone before, so I don't really know exactly how it all goes… I'm very new at this whole 'having feelings' thing…" Ginny admitted, blushing as she nervously ran a hand through her hair.
"Well… I'm not."
Demelza smiled softly and gently took the hand Ginny was pulling through her long hair. Her grey eyes looked onto 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 actually 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, clearly 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, before laughing as Demelza nodded and eagerly pulled her in for another kiss.