Down Came the Sky

Chapter One: A Secret Revealed

It was one of those nights where the air was heavy with the scent of newly fallen rain that mingled wet dirt with pine, creating a new fresh aroma, as if the earth had decided to start over. It was cold, causing the sky to fade from inky black to a sort of deep brownish-purple, warning everyone that snow wasn't far off, but still had yet to come.

The night sent chilly drafts intermittently through the hidden cracks in Gryffindor Tower, producing the syndrome of perpetually cold toes. No student was found without at least two pairs of woolly socks on despite frequently cast warming charms. Ginny had decided to let her toes thaw at the edge of the common room fire while she listened to the hypnotic scratching of quills behind her. The quills, the ever steady fire and the growing tension in her stomach sent her into sort of an anxious dreamland. She knew she must do what she must do, but the quills and the fire; the uneasiness and the whistling drafts: all made it much easier to sit with her eyes heavily lidded and half-glazed as they studied each fluctuation of flame in the fireplace.

Ron yawned noisily behind her and she heard the shuffle of his papers while someone sniffed what Ginny determined must be a draft induced stuffy nose. Still feeling mildly content, Ginny kept her eyes forward and let the heat of the fire uncomfortably warm her face so that her eyes stung and watered. Her tailbone ached at its base where all her weight was perched, so she finally scooted herself away from the fire and looked back at Ron, Hermione and Harry, all who seemed engrossed in their essays. At least Hermione was at any rate. Ron appeared to be finished with his homework and as soon as Ginny had turned around, Harry looked up at her. She smiled faintly at him and stood up to stretch, ignoring the half written essay beside her.

Harry cleared his throat and looked down at the parchment in his lap, his eyes covertly sweeping over to Ron, who was putting his things away. Hermione was faithfully working on her essay with her eyes darting across the parchment while her lips moved subtly in rhythm.

Ginny lowered herself so that she was laying belly down on the hearth rug and pulled one of her books near. Her stomach had yet to unclench causing her breaths to come out continuously shallow and she looked back to Harry, as if another look from him would send her a deep gulp of air.

Harry too looked at Ginny and when they caught eyes his gaze lingered until Ginny broke contact and shifted her sight to her brother. Ron rubbed at his eyes, leaving red blotches behind, and shouldered his bag.

"Well, I'm off to bed."

His voice cut through the rhythmic silence that had settled on the common room, causing the few students occupying the room to send glances in his direction.

"Night, Ron," Hermione mumbled, settling her attention back to her parchment.

Harry seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, shifting his eyes between Ron and his parchment. He shot Ginny a meaningful glance and said: "See ya later" to Ron.

Ginny leafed through her book while the tenseness relieved in her stomach. She glimpsed up at the staircase. Too late now, she thought as Ron disappeared from sight. She sighed and anchored her attention to the book she had laid her hand on top of. She heard Harry breath deeply, but didn't look up. She knew he would be a distraction from her essay.

*

Harry seemed to have had the idea to wait around for her, so Ginny silently obliged and lingered on the hearth rug while scanning the pages of her Astronomy book and working on her essay again. When the common room cleared, Ginny gently pushed the book out of the way, got up and leaned on the arm of Harry's chair.

"This is stupid," she said quietly. "I don't know why we have to hide it anymore..."

"Yeah," Harry breathed, slowly placing a hand atop one of hers. Ginny opened her hand and interlocked their fingers. "We should tell Ron," he muttered, tightening his fingers.

Ginny nodded, drew her eyes to the ceiling and then rolled her gaze to Harry, a mischievous smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"But it is a little fun," she said, leaning into him. "Being secretive," she whispered.

A small laugh vibrated through Harry and his arm twitched. A slow breath emitted from his lips and he tugged Ginny from the arm of the chair so that she had no choice but to sit on him. She smiled at him, brushed lightly at his fringe, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Wind continued to whistle in muffled tones, causing Ginny to feel as though her ears were stuffed full of cotton.

"I heard you talking to Neville," she said, dissolving the cottony silence. "That's really good of you."

Harry gave Ginny a weak smile.

"Yeah, well..." he trailed, his gaze shifting down to his and Ginny's joined hands in her lap.

She could feel his palm growing clammy, uncomfortably trapping humidity between the meats of their hands. Ginny released it and ran her palm across her skirt. Harry let his arm slip around Ginny's waist and she leaned down to kiss him softly. A light shuffling sounded from the dormitory stairs and they broke away from each other, but the stairs were empty. Ginny shifted and leaned her head on Harry once more.

"It's not like we have to make an announcement or anything, but we might as well act as a couple," she murmured.

Harry grunted in agreement and played with her fingers. Ginny placed her hand under Harry's chin and tilted his face toward her. He looked at her amusedly and she pressed her finger on his nose.

"Let's tell him tomorrow," she said softly, releasing the pressure of her finger. Harry's jaw tightened but he nodded.

***

"Ron, I thought you should know that I've started seeing someone new--"

Ron choked on his pumpkin juice.

"What? But you've barely stopped seeing Dean--"

"A month isn't barely!"

Ron looked over at Harry, exasperated. Harry gave Ron a weak smile and focused on his vegetables.

"So who is it?" Ron accused, glaring around the Great Hall.

Harry's head shot up and Ginny felt his gaze weighing heavily on her. She bit her lip and glanced between Harry and Ron. Harry cleared his throat and Ron looked to him, brow furrowed.

"I don't know why she keeps jumping from bloke to bloke..." he mumbled to Harry, as though apologizing. Ginny scowled at Ron, and Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"Er--" Harry started. Ginny caught his eye, smiled at him, and felt a silly blush heat her face as he smiled back. Ron narrowed his eyes and looked between the two. Harry fixed his gaze on Ron, cleared his throat and mumbled, "It's me."

Ron gaped at him for a while and then Ginny. Harry shifted again and Ginny cast him a nervous glance. Suddenly, Ron started laughing.

"HA!" he said when his breath returned. Ginny goggled at Ron, certain that he misheard something. She looked at Harry who, too, looked utterly bemused. Ginny came to her senses before Harry.

"Er, Ron, we thought you should know before Christmas, seeing as..." she trailed off as Ron's gleeful expression turned pensive.

"We sort of decided that we shouldn't make a big deal about this," Harry said slowly, turning to Ginny, who gave him an approving look.

"But Mum'll want to know, Dad too...and Fred and George..." Ron gazed thoughtfully at the air. "But I reckon you ought to tell Hermione," he said earnestly, "she would want to know this."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance before Ginny piped in a small voice, "Actually, Hermione already knows."

"Oh."

Ron looked down at his plate for a second, shook his head, and looked back at the pair. "Were you able to find her before me?"

Ginny drummed her fingers lightly on the table while blowing out a long breath.

"The thing is--" she started slowly, "the thing is that Harry and I had sort of an odd beginning." Ron raised his eyebrows.

"How long?" he said in a low voice, though his ears pinked slightly. Ginny grimaced and looked at Harry. He smiled faintly and Ginny took a deep breath, focusing intently on the table.

"He's the reason Dean and I broke up, but--"

"A month? And Hermione has known this whole time? And no one bothered to tell me?"

Ron's voice was raised enough so that students from other house tables were looking at them curiously. Ginny tensed and looked around.

"We just didn't want it to be a big deal...you know how gossip gets here," she said in a fierce whisper, though her throat felt like it would swell shut at any moment. "But what you need to understand is that me seeing Harry hasn't really been normal--"

"But he broke up you and Dean."

"Actually, Dean broke up with me because I still fancied Harry and he figured it out," Ginny said brusquely.

Ron looked as though he wasn't sure what to think as his face shifted between a palette of scowls and frowns to thoughtfully raised eyebrows.

"I--" he started.

"Hermione knows because I confided in her," Ginny cut in. "That's all," she finished lamely.

Ron looked between Harry and Ginny with a slightly pained smile.

"Fine," he responded in a tight, high voice. "So...so, now I know." He grinned a little wider, as though his mouth was tensed by a rubber band.

The three continued eating silently amid the din of scraping forks and murmuring students. Harry continually looked at Ron, who seemed to think his food was quite interesting, though his brightly colored ears betrayed his concentration. Ginny dropped her gaze to her food, pushing it around her plate until she abruptly released her fork.

"I'm going to go study," she said quickly. Both Harry and Ron seemed startled, but she got up from her seat and walked over to the door, letting her hand trail across Harry's shoulder in the process.

***

"What did you expect, really?"

"I don't know, I suppose I didn't think he would be as hurt."

Ginny tapped the knitting needles with her wand and knotted the hat at the end. Hermione sighed. "Of course he's hurt," she said, shifting her needles to the next row.

Ginny frowned and began a new hat. Her hair fell into her eyes and she tucked it behind her ears to look directly at Hermione.

"What do you think we should do?"

Hermione frowned for a long time, her eyes searching the air as if an invisible fly was jetting in front of her vision.

"I don't know," she said finally. "But I reckon it'll be worse for Harry."

Ginny frowned again and stared at the steadily clicking knitting needles. Thick blue and yellow yarn wrapped and weaved patterns together as her mind drifted in thought. Though she had briefly considered it, it hadn't really dawned on her that it would be harder for Harry. In her mind they were in it together, even when it came to telling her brother. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Ron was probably more hurt because it was Harry, his best friend, who hadn't said anything for a month and not his little sister.

"Why did you hide it anyway?" Hermione said, breaking Ginny out of her reverie. Ginny shrugged.

"I can't say really..." She switched the yarn on her needles and started a new pattern. "I s'pose we were both a little scared."

Hermione nodded. "Well that makes sense," she said.

Ginny expected her to keep going, but she didn't continue. Muffled giggles coupled with the trampling of footsteps up the stairs sounded from outside the door and continued upward. Ginny finished the row and dropped her needles. Hermione looked up from her own hat curiously.

Ginny shook her head. "We just made it harder for ourselves--Harry and me I mean. And it's not like it'll be easy...nothing about it has been so far." She sighed and tossed her unfinished hat aside. Hermione raised her eyebrows and started knotting the ends of the hat she was working on.

"Just include Ron from now on," she finally said, placing her hat neatly in a pile. Ginny smiled weakly and stared at the mound of elf hats on the corner of Hermione's bed.

"He wanted us together." Her eyes traced the detail of a hat she had adorned with small pink flowers. "I think he's more upset that you knew first," she said, raising her eyes to Hermione.

Hermione sighed and futilely organized the hats in front of her. Her shoulders were slightly tense until she pushed the hats away from herself.

"He would be upset about that," she grumbled. An awkward pause followed this statement and Ginny struggled inwardly, wondering if she should give Hermione boy advice. She seemed to increasingly need it.

"Hermione, why don't you just--" but Ginny didn't get to finish her sentence because at that moment Lavender and Parvati burst in, chatting animatedly.

Parvati eyed the hats on the bed. "Freeing more elves?" she asked in amusement. Hermione, who unexpectedly seemed deep in thought, nodded distractedly. Parvati raised her eyebrows to Lavender and the two of them picked up their conversation.

Ginny leaned into Hermione and whispered: "D'you reckon it would be awkward if I went to see Harry right now?" Hermione blinked a couple of times and creased her brow.

"Why, because he's with Ron?"

Parvati and Lavender's conversation was becoming sparse. Ginny nodded and Hermione smirked. "Go and see him. Ron will have to deal with it eventually anyway."

Parvati and Lavender stopped speaking to each other all together and Ginny sucked in her breath.

"Hermione," she whispered, widening her eyes. Hermione picked at one of her hats, a slight scowl creeping across her face.

"Well, you are telling people now, aren't you?" she said casually, her scowl softening. She looked up in Lavender and Parvati's direction and smiled. Ginny could feel their eyes on the back of her neck and she turned around to see them looking curiously in her direction. She snapped her head around and leaned in toward Hermione again.

"Let's just not talk obviously about him around other people," she attempted to say through clenched teeth.

"If you keep on being secretive then you'll only delay the gossip," Hermione responded briskly, glancing pointedly in Parvati and Lavender's direction. Ginny heard someone sink onto a nearby bed.

"So are you going to tell us or what?" Lavender said. Ginny turned around and smiled weakly at the girls.

"Er," her smile turned to a grimace. She felt Hermione's hand on her shoulder and she shifted uncomfortably. Hermione squeezed Ginny's shoulder, as though encouraging her and Ginny suddenly was filled with anger. She spun around toward Hermione.

"Why did you put me in this situation?" she exclaimed. She could feel Lavender and Parvati watching her, but she didn't care at the moment. Her anger was engulfing her.

Hermione bit her lip. "You might as well get it over with," she said in a small voice.

"What if we wanted to keep it a secret?" Ginny glowered. "This is a decision that I make with Harry, not you!"

Her words rang in the room and she heard Parvati mutter, "Oh my god." Hermione's nostrils flared slightly, she picked up her pillow and threw it down lightly.

"I'm sorry," she said tightly. "Let's just not fight."

"Are you really dating Harry?" Lavender asked. Ginny intensified her glare at Hermione, who looked back at her defiantly.

"Yes she is," Hermione said.

Ginny threw up her arms in frustration and got up toward the door.

"Ginny--wait." Hermione said behind her. "I don't want to fight with you."

"You shouldn't have done that," Ginny said dangerously. Hermione bit her lip but didn't respond. Ginny felt the anger rising in her again and she crossed her arms.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Hermione said gently.

But Ginny was still angry. She could still feel the anxious flutter of a hundred angry snitches beating rapidly in the pit of her stomach. Everyone is going to talk about us from now on, she thought bitterly, scowling at Hermione. She felt a long stream of curse words threatening her lips, but instead she heard herself yell, "Oh go snog Ron!" hoping it would result in embarrassment. She stalked out of the room, down the dormitory stairs and to the common room, where she moodily flopped in a chair.

Who does she think she is, deciding what I should do in my relationship? I didn't ask her to butt in that much! The spot between Ginny's eyebrows began to pound. She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and attempted to relax her face. Her breathing soon steadied and a feeling of shame quietly snuck into her thoughts. She had never yelled at Hermione in such a way before. What's more, her anger seemed to have increased unbidden.

But she was angry, she was still so very angry. Even so, something felt very off. I can't talk to her though, I just can't...she had no right...

Ginny felt her eyebrows contract sorely again and she slowly opened her eyes and shivered as a cold draft whistled through a crack in the corner. Her throat felt sore and she all at once felt lonely. She swallowed and pushed herself up off the chair, only to see Hermione walking down the dormitory stairs. Ginny's throat tightened, but she nevertheless still glared at Hermione. Hermione bit her lip and twisted her hands together. She opened her mouth, sighed, and turned back toward the stairs. Ginny felt as though a brick dropped in her stomach; she didn't want to stay this way with Hermione. She took a resigned breath and moved to stop her.

"I'm sorry..." she started as she gripped Hermione's arm. Hermione smiled weakly.

"Me too," she responded, pulling Ginny into a hug. "I don't know what got into me."

Ginny stepped back and shook her head, "I shouldn't have yelled at you." Hermione looked down thoughtfully and Ginny frowned at her.

"I shouldn't have told them."

Silence settled over their conversation and Ginny looked away, feeling her shame intensify. She shut her eyes and rubbed at the bridge of her nose again.

"What I don't understand," Hermione started slowly. "Is why I was so annoyed with you. I mean..." she trailed off and chewed at the tip of her thumbnail. "I was a little annoyed at you for being so secretive, but that seemed so--"

"Unnatural?" Ginny offered. Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I sort of feel that way too."

The girls lapsed into a pensive silence.

"Strange," Hermione said finally, turning back to her dormitory. As Ginny watched after her, both her shame and curiosity faded. She had an impulsive desire to see Harry.