A Beginning

A Beginning

It was probably Ginny's biggest problem. When she had a problem, be it huge or not so significant, she never tried to talk to anyone about it. Instead, she went to bed and stayed there until she felt better. Or until someone decided to drag her back out into the world.

So, when, in her sixth year, her boyfriend, Dean Thomas, dumped her, she walked out of the room with her head held high and as much dignity as she could muster (quite a bit, actually), went to bed, pulled the blankets over her head, and stayed there.

This was how Hermione found her two hours later.

"Ginny, you've missed dinner. I thought you might be hungry, so I got some sandwiches and pumpkin juice from the House Elves."

"Mmph," Ginny muttered into the blankets, not moving.

"I'm going to take that as a: 'thanks, Hermione, I was hungry, that was very thoughtful of you," Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ginny, who had never spoken like that in her life, made another muffled noise, this one sounding suspiciously like a snigger.

For the second time in two minutes, Hermione found herself rolling her eyes. Ginny always brought out that reaction. With a sigh, she set down the sandwiches and pumpkin juice then reached out and yanked the blankets off of Ginny. Ginny made an indignant noise and threw her arm over her face.

"You know," Hermione said, sitting down next to her, "Those clothes are going to be a wrinkled mess when you get up. And you should get up. This laying around is unhealthy. So, it's time for you to get out of bed and start facing your problems. What happened?"

"Mmph. Mmph. Mm," Ginny said into her arm. 'Said' being a somewhat relative term.

"What? I couldn't quite catch that. Let's try it again in English."

Ginny finally admitted defeat (albeit silently and to herself, she had a reputation to keep), and pulled her arm away from her mouth so that she could speak clearly.

"Dean. Dumped. Me."

"Ah. Do you know why?" Hermione's tone was brisk, verging on business-like.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm boring, or not pretty enough, or too outgoing."

"None of that!" Hermione said sharply, "You are interesting, and beautiful, and you would not be nearly as fun to be around if you were shy."

Ginny moved her arm so that she could look at Hermione. She examined her closely, her grey eyes narrowed slightly. She sat up, too, sitting on her right leg.

"You really think so?"

"Well, yeah, if we weren't so close I'd be jealous," Hermione blushed, her entire face going pink. Ginny found this a fascinating reaction.

A slight smile twisting Ginny's lips, she spoke again, tactfully ignoring the blush. "Well, if it's any consolation, I used to be somewhat jealous of you."

"Me? Why?" Hermione honestly looked confused.

"Because you're smart and best friends with Harry Potter. I pitied you for having to deal with Ron everyday, but I suppose a girl can't have everything in life."

Hermione laughed, some of the blush receding. "You don't seem too upset. You don't even look like you've been crying. What gives?"

"Well..." Ginny smiled wickedly then leaned forward and kissed Hermione gently on the lips.

When the kiss ended, Hermione blinked, looking slightly dazed.

"I didn't really want him anyway."