"The Sister That She Never Had" (Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley)
Author: Anonymous
Prompt/Prompt Author: "'Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some
other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more--myself.'" Ginny speaking to Harry during their break-up in HBP, chapter 30, The White Tomb.
Write a missing moment between the two girls that involves this conversation. Submitted by kissaweasley
Title: The Sister That She Never Had
Characters: Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~1900
Summary: See prompt.
Author's Notes: Thank you, kissaweasley for the prompt; I really liked the idea of writing this moment. And HUGE thank you to my betas. You both knew the pressure I was under and did a fantastic job on a very short notice.
"You should really try to calm down," Hermione told Ginny.
"Calm down? I am pretty chilled, actually," Ginny replied in a sleepy voice, looking up at Hermione from the spare mattress on the floor; she gave Hermione her own bed, because that's what you did when you had guests.
It had been a great evening. Ginny had been delighted to have all her brothers around and dinner had been great fun. Ginny stretched leisurely on her makeshift bed and smiled; having Bill around was always a special treat for her, and the thought of going to the World Cup tomorrow was so exciting that she doubted she could ever fall asleep. Well, clearly she could, seeing that Hermione had nearly woken her up just now. She tried to get around the meaning of Hermione's odd statement, but knowing Hermione, the meaning could be just about anything. She started drifting into sleep again when clarification came.
"When you are around Harry, I mean."
Feeling the colour creeping into her face, Ginny buried it in her pillow and pulled the cover over her head.
"Ginny!"
"I'm asleep," she said in a muffled voice.
"Honestly! You really are too wound up whenever you see him."
"I don't know what you mean." It didn't buy her any time.
"I think you do, and you are not doing yourself any favours when you're trying to avoid this conversation; not when you blush like that, anyway.".
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I know that you don't. But I do."
Ginny pulled herself up to a sitting position. "Hermione, would you let go? I'm tired and we have an early start tomorrow. Please, let's just leave it."
"We could leave it for now, Ginny, but then when will we be able to have this conversation? The World Cup is likely to be crazy, what with your keen interest in Quidditch, and in school we never get a moment alone, with all the other girls around."
"Then we won't have this conversation at all. I just told you, I don't want to talk about it. In fact, there is nothing to talk about; Harry doesn't even notice me, so it doesn't matter how I behave around him anyway."
"He does notice you, Ginny, and what he sees is his best mate's younger sister, who is very shy, talks very little, and who keeps spilling things and blushing most of the time. How appealing is that?"
Ginny moaned and collapsed back onto her mattress.
"Ginny, I know you; you're just not like that! You are one of the cleverest, funniest, most talented girls I have met. You are witty and sweet and if we're talking about boys, every single one of them would want to date you after less than five minutes in your company."
"But I'm not interested in other boys, Hermione; I guess I'm in love with Harry, and he doesn't even see me, and I don't know what do about that. It's just, you know, whenever he is around I want to impress him, so that he'll notice, and it all goes pear-shaped. It's awful!"
"And are you really in love with Harry, Ginny, or are you in love with the idea of being in love with Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you ever really speak to him? Did you ever get close enough to see what he is like?"
"But I can't do that! He is a hero! Everybody's talking about what he did. And he saved my life! Doesn't that mean anything?"
"Yes, he's famous, and he did save your life. I know all of that. It's hardly a secret that Harry is very much into his 'hero' role, but what kind of a hero is he, really? Yes, he is a brave guy, sometimes too reckless, if you ask me, but you people think that he actually killed Voldemort. I read all about it, of course, but personally, I find it hard to believe. How could he? He was just a baby."
"Hermione, you don't understand, you weren't here when it happened---"
Hermione cut through Ginny's words, "I wasn't here, true, and people keep waving it at me - but face it Ginny, you weren't here either. You grew up with the stories, the myth, 'The Boy Who Lived'."
"I don't know what happened there; no one knows - unless, maybe, Dumbledore does. But I have been reading, and no one; no one, Ginny, can survive the killing curse. Not even the great Harry Potter."
"But he did," whispered Ginny.
"No, he didn't; he couldn't have. There was probably something there that protected him, something that deflected the curse and prevented it from hitting him with its full power. Ginny, Harry is human; he is not above any of these things, as is Voldemort. We don't know what happened there, but really Ginny, he was a baby! How could a baby possibly be a hero? He did nothing, Ginny; he was just lucky."
"He is a hero," insisted Ginny, "and he doesn't even know I exist."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ginny! Of course he knows you exist. He also knows that you are the baby sister of his best friend."
"But he doesn't notice me as a girl."
"Darling, Harry doesn't notice any girls. He hasn't developed to that stage yet. He and your brother are still very childish when it gets to girls; I'm pretty sure they don't quite grasp the concept."
"But they notice you! They talk to you!"
"Oh, they do. At best, they see me like their sister, but I suspect that they more likely see me as one of their 'mates'. I doubt that they even notice that we're not the same gender," she sighed. "Like I said, boys of Harry and Ron's age are pretty limited."
"So what am I supposed to do to make Harry notice me, then?"
"Nothing, for now. At least until Harry grows up a little. Meanwhile, let go. Move on. Explore the Harry-free world around you. Meet other boys. You may find them way more interesting than this couple. Develop your confidence without Harry's shadow in the background to intimidate you. Then, when you are finally not afraid to be yourself in the company of others, nobody will be able to ignore your presence."
"But what if he never notices me?"
"Then there will be tons of other boys that will fight over you. Ginny, you are a very popular girl. As soon as you give a sign that you gave up on Harry, they will be queuing to date you. Don't underestimate who you are, just because a teenager, who is a late developer and who hasn't noticed the existence of girls in our universe, hasn't noticed you."
"It's is easy for you to say; you are only interested in books. You don't have a crush on anyone!"
Hermione sighed. "Don't be so sure about that."
Ginny seemed to forget she was trying to sleep. She threw the covers aside and jumped to sit on Hermione's bed, all eager to hear more. "Really? Hermione, you never said a word! I would never have guessed! Who is it? Tell me! Is it Dean? He is really very cute and he's Muggle-born too so you have lots in common. Or maybe is it Cedric Diggory? You know he lives really close to here, right? We'll probably see him tomorrow at the Portkey point. He is very good looking; I can see what you might see in him. Hold on, I have a better guess: is it my brother?"
"Your brother? Don't be ridiculous. What would make you think that I like your brother? He is such a baby!"
"No, he is not! You did seem to be a bit awkward today when he was around so I should have guessed! Oh Hermione, don't look so horrified! You wouldn't be the first girl falling for Bill!"
Hermione started laughing. "Honestly Ginny, Bill is very sweet but he's too old and not quite my type. I admit, there is someone I'm thinking of. Interestingly, similarly to your case, I don't quite think the guy has ever noticed me, but you can be sure that he has no idea that I have the faintest interest in him! At least I'm spared the embarrassment."
"And what are you doing about it?"
"Not much, I suppose. It's a tricky age, Ginny. The boys are still boys, while we... Well, we are becoming more of women, I believe. We will just have to wait until they mature to see what happens, and in the meantime, find guys that can appreciate what we have to give," she winked.
"I just wish it were that simple."
"You will get used to it, Ginny, and when you do, you will be able to show Harry your true colours. To be honest, if he doesn't notice it and instantly fall for you then he is a real idiot." Hermione said it with conviction.
She then smiled at Ginny's serious face and nudged her off the bed. In return, Ginny threw a pillow on her. Retaliation came fast. They laughed and fought and missed the sound of someone climbing up the stairs until the door opened.
"I cannot believe that I had to come up here to demand some quiet, girls! I cannot believe that you, of all people, would be making such noise at this time of the night! Hermione, I thought better of you!"
"I am sorry, Mrs Weasley; we got carried away a bit."
"A bit! You have three hours before I need to wake you up, and you are still not sleeping!"
"Mum! Stop giving out to us. Hermione is a guest, anyway; you can't give out to her! You would never shout like that at dear Harry upstairs, would you?"
Molly actually blushed, but retorted quick as a lightening, "Oh yes I would, Ginny. Don't even start talking to me about being different around Harry. I am not the one who can't even say a word every single time Harry is in the room, so don't you try to change the subject!
"You should be sleeping now. Instead, I see you having a pillow fight! You are taking too much after George and Fred. Why can't you follow the footsteps of Percy for Heavens' sake?
"And you, Hermione, I did expect you to have a different influence on our little Ginny. Of all people, I was counting on you to be the sensible one. I always knew that having a girl with all these older brothers could go very wrong, but I hoped that finally having you around would put things right and give Ginny the sister that she never had! I'm very disappointed in you two, and I don't want to hear a word of complaint when you miss the World Cup tomorrow."
Molly turned and slammed the door behind her.
"You see," said Ginny, "I am not the only one with a soft spot for Harry; she doesn't even notice she does it. And there is also Dad, and the twins, and, obviously, Ron. There are times I am pretty sure even he wouldn't mind dating Harry... Anyway, it's a good thing that you are not interested in my brother, after all. You heard Mum; you're supposed to be the sister that I never had."
"Good night, Ginny!"
Prompt/Prompt Author: "'Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some
other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more--myself.'" Ginny speaking to Harry during their break-up in HBP, chapter 30, The White Tomb.
Write a missing moment between the two girls that involves this conversation. Submitted by kissaweasley
Title: The Sister That She Never Had
Characters: Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~1900
Summary: See prompt.
Author's Notes: Thank you, kissaweasley for the prompt; I really liked the idea of writing this moment. And HUGE thank you to my betas. You both knew the pressure I was under and did a fantastic job on a very short notice.
"You should really try to calm down," Hermione told Ginny.
"Calm down? I am pretty chilled, actually," Ginny replied in a sleepy voice, looking up at Hermione from the spare mattress on the floor; she gave Hermione her own bed, because that's what you did when you had guests.
It had been a great evening. Ginny had been delighted to have all her brothers around and dinner had been great fun. Ginny stretched leisurely on her makeshift bed and smiled; having Bill around was always a special treat for her, and the thought of going to the World Cup tomorrow was so exciting that she doubted she could ever fall asleep. Well, clearly she could, seeing that Hermione had nearly woken her up just now. She tried to get around the meaning of Hermione's odd statement, but knowing Hermione, the meaning could be just about anything. She started drifting into sleep again when clarification came.
"When you are around Harry, I mean."
Feeling the colour creeping into her face, Ginny buried it in her pillow and pulled the cover over her head.
"Ginny!"
"I'm asleep," she said in a muffled voice.
"Honestly! You really are too wound up whenever you see him."
"I don't know what you mean." It didn't buy her any time.
"I think you do, and you are not doing yourself any favours when you're trying to avoid this conversation; not when you blush like that, anyway.".
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I know that you don't. But I do."
Ginny pulled herself up to a sitting position. "Hermione, would you let go? I'm tired and we have an early start tomorrow. Please, let's just leave it."
"We could leave it for now, Ginny, but then when will we be able to have this conversation? The World Cup is likely to be crazy, what with your keen interest in Quidditch, and in school we never get a moment alone, with all the other girls around."
"Then we won't have this conversation at all. I just told you, I don't want to talk about it. In fact, there is nothing to talk about; Harry doesn't even notice me, so it doesn't matter how I behave around him anyway."
"He does notice you, Ginny, and what he sees is his best mate's younger sister, who is very shy, talks very little, and who keeps spilling things and blushing most of the time. How appealing is that?"
Ginny moaned and collapsed back onto her mattress.
"Ginny, I know you; you're just not like that! You are one of the cleverest, funniest, most talented girls I have met. You are witty and sweet and if we're talking about boys, every single one of them would want to date you after less than five minutes in your company."
"But I'm not interested in other boys, Hermione; I guess I'm in love with Harry, and he doesn't even see me, and I don't know what do about that. It's just, you know, whenever he is around I want to impress him, so that he'll notice, and it all goes pear-shaped. It's awful!"
"And are you really in love with Harry, Ginny, or are you in love with the idea of being in love with Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you ever really speak to him? Did you ever get close enough to see what he is like?"
"But I can't do that! He is a hero! Everybody's talking about what he did. And he saved my life! Doesn't that mean anything?"
"Yes, he's famous, and he did save your life. I know all of that. It's hardly a secret that Harry is very much into his 'hero' role, but what kind of a hero is he, really? Yes, he is a brave guy, sometimes too reckless, if you ask me, but you people think that he actually killed Voldemort. I read all about it, of course, but personally, I find it hard to believe. How could he? He was just a baby."
"Hermione, you don't understand, you weren't here when it happened---"
Hermione cut through Ginny's words, "I wasn't here, true, and people keep waving it at me - but face it Ginny, you weren't here either. You grew up with the stories, the myth, 'The Boy Who Lived'."
"I don't know what happened there; no one knows - unless, maybe, Dumbledore does. But I have been reading, and no one; no one, Ginny, can survive the killing curse. Not even the great Harry Potter."
"But he did," whispered Ginny.
"No, he didn't; he couldn't have. There was probably something there that protected him, something that deflected the curse and prevented it from hitting him with its full power. Ginny, Harry is human; he is not above any of these things, as is Voldemort. We don't know what happened there, but really Ginny, he was a baby! How could a baby possibly be a hero? He did nothing, Ginny; he was just lucky."
"He is a hero," insisted Ginny, "and he doesn't even know I exist."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ginny! Of course he knows you exist. He also knows that you are the baby sister of his best friend."
"But he doesn't notice me as a girl."
"Darling, Harry doesn't notice any girls. He hasn't developed to that stage yet. He and your brother are still very childish when it gets to girls; I'm pretty sure they don't quite grasp the concept."
"But they notice you! They talk to you!"
"Oh, they do. At best, they see me like their sister, but I suspect that they more likely see me as one of their 'mates'. I doubt that they even notice that we're not the same gender," she sighed. "Like I said, boys of Harry and Ron's age are pretty limited."
"So what am I supposed to do to make Harry notice me, then?"
"Nothing, for now. At least until Harry grows up a little. Meanwhile, let go. Move on. Explore the Harry-free world around you. Meet other boys. You may find them way more interesting than this couple. Develop your confidence without Harry's shadow in the background to intimidate you. Then, when you are finally not afraid to be yourself in the company of others, nobody will be able to ignore your presence."
"But what if he never notices me?"
"Then there will be tons of other boys that will fight over you. Ginny, you are a very popular girl. As soon as you give a sign that you gave up on Harry, they will be queuing to date you. Don't underestimate who you are, just because a teenager, who is a late developer and who hasn't noticed the existence of girls in our universe, hasn't noticed you."
"It's is easy for you to say; you are only interested in books. You don't have a crush on anyone!"
Hermione sighed. "Don't be so sure about that."
Ginny seemed to forget she was trying to sleep. She threw the covers aside and jumped to sit on Hermione's bed, all eager to hear more. "Really? Hermione, you never said a word! I would never have guessed! Who is it? Tell me! Is it Dean? He is really very cute and he's Muggle-born too so you have lots in common. Or maybe is it Cedric Diggory? You know he lives really close to here, right? We'll probably see him tomorrow at the Portkey point. He is very good looking; I can see what you might see in him. Hold on, I have a better guess: is it my brother?"
"Your brother? Don't be ridiculous. What would make you think that I like your brother? He is such a baby!"
"No, he is not! You did seem to be a bit awkward today when he was around so I should have guessed! Oh Hermione, don't look so horrified! You wouldn't be the first girl falling for Bill!"
Hermione started laughing. "Honestly Ginny, Bill is very sweet but he's too old and not quite my type. I admit, there is someone I'm thinking of. Interestingly, similarly to your case, I don't quite think the guy has ever noticed me, but you can be sure that he has no idea that I have the faintest interest in him! At least I'm spared the embarrassment."
"And what are you doing about it?"
"Not much, I suppose. It's a tricky age, Ginny. The boys are still boys, while we... Well, we are becoming more of women, I believe. We will just have to wait until they mature to see what happens, and in the meantime, find guys that can appreciate what we have to give," she winked.
"I just wish it were that simple."
"You will get used to it, Ginny, and when you do, you will be able to show Harry your true colours. To be honest, if he doesn't notice it and instantly fall for you then he is a real idiot." Hermione said it with conviction.
She then smiled at Ginny's serious face and nudged her off the bed. In return, Ginny threw a pillow on her. Retaliation came fast. They laughed and fought and missed the sound of someone climbing up the stairs until the door opened.
"I cannot believe that I had to come up here to demand some quiet, girls! I cannot believe that you, of all people, would be making such noise at this time of the night! Hermione, I thought better of you!"
"I am sorry, Mrs Weasley; we got carried away a bit."
"A bit! You have three hours before I need to wake you up, and you are still not sleeping!"
"Mum! Stop giving out to us. Hermione is a guest, anyway; you can't give out to her! You would never shout like that at dear Harry upstairs, would you?"
Molly actually blushed, but retorted quick as a lightening, "Oh yes I would, Ginny. Don't even start talking to me about being different around Harry. I am not the one who can't even say a word every single time Harry is in the room, so don't you try to change the subject!
"You should be sleeping now. Instead, I see you having a pillow fight! You are taking too much after George and Fred. Why can't you follow the footsteps of Percy for Heavens' sake?
"And you, Hermione, I did expect you to have a different influence on our little Ginny. Of all people, I was counting on you to be the sensible one. I always knew that having a girl with all these older brothers could go very wrong, but I hoped that finally having you around would put things right and give Ginny the sister that she never had! I'm very disappointed in you two, and I don't want to hear a word of complaint when you miss the World Cup tomorrow."
Molly turned and slammed the door behind her.
"You see," said Ginny, "I am not the only one with a soft spot for Harry; she doesn't even notice she does it. And there is also Dad, and the twins, and, obviously, Ron. There are times I am pretty sure even he wouldn't mind dating Harry... Anyway, it's a good thing that you are not interested in my brother, after all. You heard Mum; you're supposed to be the sister that I never had."
"Good night, Ginny!"