Holidays
Title: Holidays
Pairing: Ginny/Hermione
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. JK Rowling owns the rest.
I hate holidays, I thought to myself while sitting in my small bedroom at the Burrow. I was feeling very bored and shut in and was trying to read an article on new Quidditch body armor. It was the middle of the afternoon and I could hear my brother Ronald and his best friend Harry Potter laughing in their shared room while my other brother George told an off-color joke about house-elves. Hermione would have had a fit if she had heard that one.
There was one person that could make this holiday break even better and even the thought of being in the same vicinity as her sent shivers down my spine. She was supposed to be arriving any day after a short trip home to visit her parents. I had been waiting for a week for some sort of sign of her. She usually barely noticed me when she was at the Burrow, because of her closeness to Ron and Harry, but hearing her laughter and brainy insights made me feel complete, even if they were not directed towards me or something I did.
I had promised myself after the Yule Ball two years ago, and watching her flirt all night with Victor Krum, that I would get her to notice me at some point during our holiday breaks. I would probably go weak in the knees if she smiled at me the way she had smiled at him that night. Sadly, even as a Gryffindor, I am not the bravest of the bunch, and I would not really know what to do with her attention if I had it.
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud CRACK! as my brother Fred appeared near my doorway, which I was sure he was standing right outside of anyways. Of all of my brothers, Fred and I get along the best. We often sneak away from the rest of our family to create some sort of schemes or to do something our mother would not approve of. We are definitely more adventurous than anyone else in our family.
“Hello, Fred,” I smirked into my magazine without looking up at him.
“Hey, Sis,” I could hear his grin as he came and sat down next to me on my bed, “What are you doing?”
“Knitting,” I replied grinning up at him, “Can I help you?” He winked at me in response.
“Mum sent me up here to check on you since you’ve been in here all day,” he looked over my shoulder at the Quidditch article, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, just reading. I’m really bored. Want to do something?” I sat up into a cross-legged position and grinned, suddenly having energy.
“We could go sledding?” Fred suddenly looked very energetic as well. Fred’s twin George was hanging around with Harry and Ron a lot this year and I was sure that Fred felt more than a little left out. I didn’t mind being his backup for George.
“Definitely!” I sprang up off of my bed and began pulling layers of clothing on, most of which were old trousers and sweaters that my brothers had grown out of, but I had yet to grow into. Fred disappeared (by using the door) to find some layers for himself. I finally pulled on a bright red sweater with a bright yellow ‘R’ knitted into it. It definitely did not belong to me. Fred reappeared in my doorway looking like a puffed up marshmallow and holding a roll of plastic wrap in his hand. He held it up triumphantly and let out a cackle as I threw on my coat and boots and we crashed down the stairs as fast as we could.
“Oy! Ginny and Fred! Where are you off to?” I heard Ronald’s voice as we came running into the kitchen and headed for the back door.
“Sledding!” When I yelled it, I am sure it sounded like a war cry.
“Ginny!” That was Mum. Fred and I skidded to a halt. We both looked back at her. Fred had one hand on the door already.
“You both had better be back before seven o-clock, we have company coming tonight,” Mum warned, shaking her wand at us. We both nodded and Fred flung open the door.
“Can we come?” George, Harry, and Ron yelled in unison.
“No!” Fred and I laughed as we dashed to the shed to retrieve the sleds and head up to the hills behind the Burrow.
Fred and I spent the rest of the afternoon building ramps and flying off of the side of any good hill we could find. There are few times when I feel free and completely comfortable with someone, and Fred is definitely that person in my life.
“Hey, Fred,” I decided to test his knowledge as we trudged back up a particularly high hill.
“Yeah?” He kicked snow at me as we neared the top.
“Do you know if Hermione is supposed to arrive tonight?” I began setting up my sled at the top, putting the plastic wrap around the bottom to reduce friction.
“No clue, Sis, but don’t you worry. She’ll be around soon enough,” Fred smirked at me and went flying down the hill. I wondered if my brother knew me better than I thought.
We decided to race on a particularly tree-covered slope to see who could weave around the trees the fastest. It was dangerous but Fred and I both knew we were up to the challenge.
SMACK!
As I was almost to the bottom of the hill, I looked behind me to see how far behind Fred was when I ran straight into a low hanging branch at the bottom of the hill. I woke to Fred shaking me gently, looking worried.
“Gin?” he whispered as if he were talking to a dying old woman, “Gin, can you hear me?”
I sat up slowly, shaking my head to gain my bearings.
“Of course, where did that tree come from?” I chuckled and looked down at the blood droplets in the snow. I had a nasty cut across my cheek. Fred looked relieved and sat back in the snow next to me, wiping some of the blood off of my cheek and onto his sleeve. I looked around and realized it was almost completely dark outside.
“Fred? What time is it?” I gave him a panicked look.
“Can’t be past five-thirty yet, can it?” Fred searched his pocket for a timepiece.
“It’s got to be later than that! It’s probably way past seven!” I jumped up, grabbing my sled and running back towards the Burrow, “Mum’s going to murder us!”
As we came upon the Burrow we could see the lights from the kitchen and dining room shining through the windows onto the snow. We stepped up to the back door and opened it as quietly as possible. I looked at the family clock standing near the door. Nearly eight o-clock. Uh oh.
“Where have you two been?” Mum’s voice bellowed as she came rushing into the kitchen. She sounded very angry, “Did I not say be back by seven o-clock?”
“Ginny ran into a tree, Mum,” Fred tried to look apologetic, “We took a little time to rest before walking home.” Mom pulled me close to her and examined my cheek before putting a wet rag over the cut. She seemed satisfied but ushered us into the dining room where we were met by more faces than either of us had expected to see.
Mad-eye Moody, Lupin, and Tonks were seated on one side of the table next to Fred and my father. Harry, Ron and George were seated on the other side with none other than Hermione Granger. I blinked twice before realizing she was actually sitting there, staring up at me, with a very amused look on her face. I looked at George before Mum began tugging our coats off and yelled at us to take our boots back to the doorway. As we came back and said hello to everyone Ron gaped at the bright red sweater I was wearing.
“Ginny! Who said you could wear my clothes?” he pointed a finger at the sweater, causing all eyes to be placed on me.
“Come off it, Ron. You don’t even wear this anymore. Besides I only wore it to go sledding,” I shook my head at him and took a few bites on the stew Mum had placed in front of me.
“Is that where you were?” Hermione spoke up as I almost choked on my stew.
“Ya, ‘Mione, we’ve been sledding all afternoon. Gin had a run in with a nasty tree,” Fred punched my shoulder, laughing.
“That cut is a right improvement on your face, Gin,” Ron piped in, chuckling at his own joke. Harry looked disturbed and focused his eyes on his stew. I opened my mouth to insult him in return, but I was cut-off once again by Hermione.
“Well, she looks better in your sweater than you do, Ronald,” Hermione’s eyes sparkled a little as she said it, winking at me. I nodded my appreciation and tried to ignore my stomach doing little flips. George changed the subject to his and Fred’s new inventions for their shop. I remained quiet for the rest of the meal.
After dinner and clean-up, I ran up to my room only to find the extra cot there. I blinked, then remembered that Hermione would be staying in my room again. She always did, why did it matter now? I changed into some soft flannel pants and went to the washroom to do some business and brush my teeth. When I got back to my room, Hermione was sitting on her cot, flipping aimlessly through one of the many books she had brought. She looked up at me and smiled, then looked thoughtful.
“Ginny…” She got up off of the cot and walked over to me, taking my chin in her hand and pulling my face so she could look at my cut.
“You should really put something on that cut,” She went back her cot and pulled a rucksack out from underneath of it and began rummaging around in it. I went to the mirror and looked at my reflection. I kind of liked having battle scars, they made me feel tough.
“It’s not so bad, Hermione,” I ran my fingers over it, wincing slightly from the sting, “Nothing to worry about, really.”
“What? Do you want a scar so you can look tough or something?” She walked over and put her chin on my shoulder, smirking at me in the mirror. I blinked for a moment and she laughed, “Yeah, I know you too well, Gin. Come on.”
I turned around to face her, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. She dipped a q-tip into a small bottle then applied the liquid to the cut. It stung, and I winced again, in spite of myself. She smirked then blew on it a little to stop the stinging of the medicine. I blushed again and she politely pretended not to notice. She walked back to her cot and replaced the bottle into her rucksack.
“Er… thanks, Hermione,” I mumbled softly, walking to my bed and sprawling out across it. Sledding had more than worn me out, and my entire body ached. I groaned and stretched a bit.
“Ginny, can we talk for a moment?” Hermione looked over at me, laying down on her own cot.
“Uh, yeah. What about?” I tried my hardest not to make eye-contact. The ceiling could be very interesting.
“Why have things been so weird with you and me this year? We are not nearly as close as we used to be,” She rolled over onto her side and propped her head up on her arm, looking at me imploringly. I shrugged, remaining silent. Because you are the most beautiful and smart girl I have ever met and you make me nervous. I willed my mouth to keep those words inside of my head.
“Come on, Gin,” She sat up a little, trying to meet my gaze, “Are you too popular now to hang out with your brother’s nerdy friend?” I looked at her quickly. How could she think that?
“Of course not, Hermione!” The words poured out of my mouth before I could stop them, “You make me all nervous and all I want to do is get your attention and not look like a complete git. You’re always with Harry and Ronald.” I closed my eyes tightly. Stupid Weasley temper… Maybe it was my fault it seemed like she was ignoring me. I really did not talk to her as much because I was afraid of looking stupid in front of her.
“You want my attention? Gin… what are you trying to say?” She sat up completely, nearing the stage of standing up and coming over to my bed. I grunted and rolled over onto my side, facing away from her. If she just gave up and went to sleep maybe she would forget about it in the morning.
“Ginny, I’ve wanted your attention, too,” She moved over to my bed, putting her hand on my shoulder, “You have grown up a lot lately.” I turned over a little to look her in the eyes for the first time.
“You do?” I could barely get the words out. She nodded and pulled me into a warm hug.
“Of course, Gin, I have missed you,” she chuckled nervously.
I pulled back and looked at her, unsure of what to say or do next. I did not have to think much longer because she brought our lips together so gently, it was as natural as simply talking to her. After a few moments, we pulled apart, both smirking at each other.
“You have my attention,” she smiled at me gently and kissed me again. As we continued talking and cuddling for the rest of the evening, I only had one thought left in my head.
I love holidays.
Pairing: Ginny/Hermione
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. JK Rowling owns the rest.
I hate holidays, I thought to myself while sitting in my small bedroom at the Burrow. I was feeling very bored and shut in and was trying to read an article on new Quidditch body armor. It was the middle of the afternoon and I could hear my brother Ronald and his best friend Harry Potter laughing in their shared room while my other brother George told an off-color joke about house-elves. Hermione would have had a fit if she had heard that one.
There was one person that could make this holiday break even better and even the thought of being in the same vicinity as her sent shivers down my spine. She was supposed to be arriving any day after a short trip home to visit her parents. I had been waiting for a week for some sort of sign of her. She usually barely noticed me when she was at the Burrow, because of her closeness to Ron and Harry, but hearing her laughter and brainy insights made me feel complete, even if they were not directed towards me or something I did.
I had promised myself after the Yule Ball two years ago, and watching her flirt all night with Victor Krum, that I would get her to notice me at some point during our holiday breaks. I would probably go weak in the knees if she smiled at me the way she had smiled at him that night. Sadly, even as a Gryffindor, I am not the bravest of the bunch, and I would not really know what to do with her attention if I had it.
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud CRACK! as my brother Fred appeared near my doorway, which I was sure he was standing right outside of anyways. Of all of my brothers, Fred and I get along the best. We often sneak away from the rest of our family to create some sort of schemes or to do something our mother would not approve of. We are definitely more adventurous than anyone else in our family.
“Hello, Fred,” I smirked into my magazine without looking up at him.
“Hey, Sis,” I could hear his grin as he came and sat down next to me on my bed, “What are you doing?”
“Knitting,” I replied grinning up at him, “Can I help you?” He winked at me in response.
“Mum sent me up here to check on you since you’ve been in here all day,” he looked over my shoulder at the Quidditch article, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, just reading. I’m really bored. Want to do something?” I sat up into a cross-legged position and grinned, suddenly having energy.
“We could go sledding?” Fred suddenly looked very energetic as well. Fred’s twin George was hanging around with Harry and Ron a lot this year and I was sure that Fred felt more than a little left out. I didn’t mind being his backup for George.
“Definitely!” I sprang up off of my bed and began pulling layers of clothing on, most of which were old trousers and sweaters that my brothers had grown out of, but I had yet to grow into. Fred disappeared (by using the door) to find some layers for himself. I finally pulled on a bright red sweater with a bright yellow ‘R’ knitted into it. It definitely did not belong to me. Fred reappeared in my doorway looking like a puffed up marshmallow and holding a roll of plastic wrap in his hand. He held it up triumphantly and let out a cackle as I threw on my coat and boots and we crashed down the stairs as fast as we could.
“Oy! Ginny and Fred! Where are you off to?” I heard Ronald’s voice as we came running into the kitchen and headed for the back door.
“Sledding!” When I yelled it, I am sure it sounded like a war cry.
“Ginny!” That was Mum. Fred and I skidded to a halt. We both looked back at her. Fred had one hand on the door already.
“You both had better be back before seven o-clock, we have company coming tonight,” Mum warned, shaking her wand at us. We both nodded and Fred flung open the door.
“Can we come?” George, Harry, and Ron yelled in unison.
“No!” Fred and I laughed as we dashed to the shed to retrieve the sleds and head up to the hills behind the Burrow.
Fred and I spent the rest of the afternoon building ramps and flying off of the side of any good hill we could find. There are few times when I feel free and completely comfortable with someone, and Fred is definitely that person in my life.
“Hey, Fred,” I decided to test his knowledge as we trudged back up a particularly high hill.
“Yeah?” He kicked snow at me as we neared the top.
“Do you know if Hermione is supposed to arrive tonight?” I began setting up my sled at the top, putting the plastic wrap around the bottom to reduce friction.
“No clue, Sis, but don’t you worry. She’ll be around soon enough,” Fred smirked at me and went flying down the hill. I wondered if my brother knew me better than I thought.
We decided to race on a particularly tree-covered slope to see who could weave around the trees the fastest. It was dangerous but Fred and I both knew we were up to the challenge.
SMACK!
As I was almost to the bottom of the hill, I looked behind me to see how far behind Fred was when I ran straight into a low hanging branch at the bottom of the hill. I woke to Fred shaking me gently, looking worried.
“Gin?” he whispered as if he were talking to a dying old woman, “Gin, can you hear me?”
I sat up slowly, shaking my head to gain my bearings.
“Of course, where did that tree come from?” I chuckled and looked down at the blood droplets in the snow. I had a nasty cut across my cheek. Fred looked relieved and sat back in the snow next to me, wiping some of the blood off of my cheek and onto his sleeve. I looked around and realized it was almost completely dark outside.
“Fred? What time is it?” I gave him a panicked look.
“Can’t be past five-thirty yet, can it?” Fred searched his pocket for a timepiece.
“It’s got to be later than that! It’s probably way past seven!” I jumped up, grabbing my sled and running back towards the Burrow, “Mum’s going to murder us!”
As we came upon the Burrow we could see the lights from the kitchen and dining room shining through the windows onto the snow. We stepped up to the back door and opened it as quietly as possible. I looked at the family clock standing near the door. Nearly eight o-clock. Uh oh.
“Where have you two been?” Mum’s voice bellowed as she came rushing into the kitchen. She sounded very angry, “Did I not say be back by seven o-clock?”
“Ginny ran into a tree, Mum,” Fred tried to look apologetic, “We took a little time to rest before walking home.” Mom pulled me close to her and examined my cheek before putting a wet rag over the cut. She seemed satisfied but ushered us into the dining room where we were met by more faces than either of us had expected to see.
Mad-eye Moody, Lupin, and Tonks were seated on one side of the table next to Fred and my father. Harry, Ron and George were seated on the other side with none other than Hermione Granger. I blinked twice before realizing she was actually sitting there, staring up at me, with a very amused look on her face. I looked at George before Mum began tugging our coats off and yelled at us to take our boots back to the doorway. As we came back and said hello to everyone Ron gaped at the bright red sweater I was wearing.
“Ginny! Who said you could wear my clothes?” he pointed a finger at the sweater, causing all eyes to be placed on me.
“Come off it, Ron. You don’t even wear this anymore. Besides I only wore it to go sledding,” I shook my head at him and took a few bites on the stew Mum had placed in front of me.
“Is that where you were?” Hermione spoke up as I almost choked on my stew.
“Ya, ‘Mione, we’ve been sledding all afternoon. Gin had a run in with a nasty tree,” Fred punched my shoulder, laughing.
“That cut is a right improvement on your face, Gin,” Ron piped in, chuckling at his own joke. Harry looked disturbed and focused his eyes on his stew. I opened my mouth to insult him in return, but I was cut-off once again by Hermione.
“Well, she looks better in your sweater than you do, Ronald,” Hermione’s eyes sparkled a little as she said it, winking at me. I nodded my appreciation and tried to ignore my stomach doing little flips. George changed the subject to his and Fred’s new inventions for their shop. I remained quiet for the rest of the meal.
After dinner and clean-up, I ran up to my room only to find the extra cot there. I blinked, then remembered that Hermione would be staying in my room again. She always did, why did it matter now? I changed into some soft flannel pants and went to the washroom to do some business and brush my teeth. When I got back to my room, Hermione was sitting on her cot, flipping aimlessly through one of the many books she had brought. She looked up at me and smiled, then looked thoughtful.
“Ginny…” She got up off of the cot and walked over to me, taking my chin in her hand and pulling my face so she could look at my cut.
“You should really put something on that cut,” She went back her cot and pulled a rucksack out from underneath of it and began rummaging around in it. I went to the mirror and looked at my reflection. I kind of liked having battle scars, they made me feel tough.
“It’s not so bad, Hermione,” I ran my fingers over it, wincing slightly from the sting, “Nothing to worry about, really.”
“What? Do you want a scar so you can look tough or something?” She walked over and put her chin on my shoulder, smirking at me in the mirror. I blinked for a moment and she laughed, “Yeah, I know you too well, Gin. Come on.”
I turned around to face her, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. She dipped a q-tip into a small bottle then applied the liquid to the cut. It stung, and I winced again, in spite of myself. She smirked then blew on it a little to stop the stinging of the medicine. I blushed again and she politely pretended not to notice. She walked back to her cot and replaced the bottle into her rucksack.
“Er… thanks, Hermione,” I mumbled softly, walking to my bed and sprawling out across it. Sledding had more than worn me out, and my entire body ached. I groaned and stretched a bit.
“Ginny, can we talk for a moment?” Hermione looked over at me, laying down on her own cot.
“Uh, yeah. What about?” I tried my hardest not to make eye-contact. The ceiling could be very interesting.
“Why have things been so weird with you and me this year? We are not nearly as close as we used to be,” She rolled over onto her side and propped her head up on her arm, looking at me imploringly. I shrugged, remaining silent. Because you are the most beautiful and smart girl I have ever met and you make me nervous. I willed my mouth to keep those words inside of my head.
“Come on, Gin,” She sat up a little, trying to meet my gaze, “Are you too popular now to hang out with your brother’s nerdy friend?” I looked at her quickly. How could she think that?
“Of course not, Hermione!” The words poured out of my mouth before I could stop them, “You make me all nervous and all I want to do is get your attention and not look like a complete git. You’re always with Harry and Ronald.” I closed my eyes tightly. Stupid Weasley temper… Maybe it was my fault it seemed like she was ignoring me. I really did not talk to her as much because I was afraid of looking stupid in front of her.
“You want my attention? Gin… what are you trying to say?” She sat up completely, nearing the stage of standing up and coming over to my bed. I grunted and rolled over onto my side, facing away from her. If she just gave up and went to sleep maybe she would forget about it in the morning.
“Ginny, I’ve wanted your attention, too,” She moved over to my bed, putting her hand on my shoulder, “You have grown up a lot lately.” I turned over a little to look her in the eyes for the first time.
“You do?” I could barely get the words out. She nodded and pulled me into a warm hug.
“Of course, Gin, I have missed you,” she chuckled nervously.
I pulled back and looked at her, unsure of what to say or do next. I did not have to think much longer because she brought our lips together so gently, it was as natural as simply talking to her. After a few moments, we pulled apart, both smirking at each other.
“You have my attention,” she smiled at me gently and kissed me again. As we continued talking and cuddling for the rest of the evening, I only had one thought left in my head.
I love holidays.