Rating:
PG-13
House:
Astronomy Tower
Ships:
Ginny Weasley/Hermione Granger Harry Potter/Ron Weasley
Characters:
Ginny Weasley Harry Potter Hermione Granger Ron Weasley
Genres:
Romance Slash
Era:
The Harry Potter at Hogwarts Years
Spoilers:
Goblet of Fire
Stats:
Published: 03/22/2003
Updated: 01/11/2004
Words: 16,662
Chapters: 6
Hits: 18,425

La courbe de tes yeux

Maddy

Story Summary:
As simple a story as could ever be, although things might not go so smooth as could be expected. At long length, Ginny realizes that Harry is really doing nothing for her, and that a certain curly-honey head is far more enticing. Thing is, when you're in love with your best friend, how exactly do you get the guts to tell her?

Chapter 01 - Chapter 01

Chapter Summary:
In her fourth year at Hogwarts, Ginny realizes that Harry is really doing nothing for her, and that a certain curly-honey head is far more enticing. Thing is, when you're in love with your best friend, how exactly do you get the courage to tell her?
Posted:
03/22/2003
Hits:
4,688

La courbe de tes yeux fait le tour de mon coeur,
Un rond de danse et de douceur,
Auréole du temps, berceau nocturne et sûr,
Et si je ne sais plus tout ce que j'ai vécu
C'est que tes yeux ne m'ont pas toujours vu.

Feuilles de jour et mousse de rosée,
Roseaux du vent, sourires parfumés,
Ailes couvrant le monde de lumière,
Bateaux chargés du ciel et de la mer,
Chasseurs des bruits et sources des couleurs,

Parfums éclos d'une couvée d'aurores
Qui gît toujours sur la paille des astres,
Comme le jour dépend de l'innocence
Le monde entier dépend de tes yeux purs

Et tout mon sang coule dans leurs regards.

Paul Eluard



Chapter One: Struck By Thunder.

She didn't know when it had happened, only that it had. One day during lunch, Ginny suddenly realized that it wasn't at Harry Potter she was casting sidelong glances, but at his best friend...at Hermione Granger. It had confused her a little at first, but she hadn't really given it much thought. Hermione did look particularly pretty that day, and Ginny decided she had just been admiring her new dragonfly-shaped hairclips, not at all her soft pink cheeks, or the way she kept licking her lips whenever she took a sip from her pumpkin juice. It's silly to stare at her like that, Ginny had thought. I'll just have to ask her where she bought the clips.

She never did.

And since that day Ginny always noticed how Hermione was dressed, how she looked, and generally, if Hermione was anywhere near Ginny, Ginny's eyes would instinctively fall on her and stay there. And more than once, on gloomy days where it seemed the whole world was against her, the mere sight of Hermione running to her with flushed cheeks in the hallways was enough to make Ginny feel carefree and peaceful again.

Another thing had changed. At last, after three years of absolute adoration, her obsessive crush on Harry had waned. Strange how that seemed to be linked to Hermione, somehow... And Ginny wasn't the only one to notice the change; Harry and the others had too, long before Ginny herself. And therefore, the youngest of the Weasleys soon found herself the youngest of the Harry gang, without even trying to become so. But ever since she'd stopped almost fainting when he talked to her, stopped leaving the room from sheer nerves, stopped blushing and stammering and putting her elbow in the butter-dish...in short, ever since she'd started acting like her normal talkative self, Harry seemed to have taken a liking to her. The most surprising thing, however, was for Ginny to realize that she wasn't the slightest flustered by this sudden display of attention and friendship. It seemed to her more and more that somehow, she had been swooning over the wrong person all along. Thing was, she had no idea who else she should be swooning over.

~~~~~~

It didn't dawn on her, the feelings she was nurturing in her growing heart, before one special night in March, the 17th to be precise. Knowing how much Dumbledore liked parties, it was a wonder to all the students (and especially to all the Muggle-borns) why Hogwarts wasn't celebrating St Patrick's Day, but to this day March the 17th hadn't been any different from any other day. However, this year the students from Gryffindor had decided they would celebrate it properly, and to hell with the fact that it was a school night. Even Hermione hadn't had the heart to play her Prefect card and try to cancel the party.

Ron and Harry had sneaked down to the kitchens while Fred and George had made their way to Hogsmeade to stack up with Butterbeers, which left Ginny alone in the common room, free to feel gloomy at leisure.

She knew Hermione wouldn't have gone with Ron and Harry, since her opinion about House-elves hadn't changed in the least since the previous year. And she knew she'd never have gone with Fred and George, for fear of getting caught. So she should have stayed there, with Ginny, and they could have had some girly talk, for once.

But no. As it turned out, Hermione had decided to spend her evening in the library, this night of all nights; she had even borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak to be sure she wouldn't be disturbed or sent away. She had an important Arithmancy essay due the next morning, and surprisingly enough she hadn't managed to finish it two days early, like she usually did. Talk about bad luck, Ginny thought, too disappointed to even try and deny the fact that she wanted Hermione to be next to her more than anything right then. Celebrating St Patrick's Day without her wouldn't be any fun, Ginny was sure of it.

Her mood considerably brightened, though, when Harry and Ron returned, holding with their four hands a basket filled to the brim with food, and told her that they had paid a visit to Hermione on their way to the kitchens, to try and get her to come to the party. Hermione had told them that she was close to finishing her essay, and was hoping to join them in an hour at the most.

Ginny's heart leaped at the news, and she was left tingly with an excitement she hadn't quite expected. Well, at least once Hermione's here you won't be the only girl, she kept thinking. She wasn't exactly the only girl in the common room, since every Gryffindor student was down too – most of the sixth and seventh-years wondering with undisguised glee how the late Prefect Percy would have reacted confronted to such a rebellion. But Ginny hadn't really bonded with any of the girls her age, and she couldn't stand Parvati and Lavender, always whispering and giggling about – most probably – boys.

She enjoyed herself still, laughing along with the others at her twin-brothers' jokes, and getting into a pleasant argument with Harry about the two second-years that seemed to have been following him around for a month or two – it always made Ginny a bit embarrassed to reminisce about the way she had been gawking at Harry, but he seemed to find it much more cute and amusing now that she had changed.

But despite all that, something was missing, missing cruelly. Ginny kept glancing at the hole in the wall, hoping to see the back of the painting fling open to let Hermione in, only to be let down time after time. Students kept entering and leaving, blissfully oblivious to the silent string of curses Ginny was sending their way.

~~~~~~

The library had closed a couple of hours before and still no sign of Hermione. Ginny looked at her watch and sighed.

'I wonder what she's doing...'

Ginny, who had been thinking the exact same words, looked back up and was faced with Harry's friendly eyes and – but maybe she was imagining it – slightly cocky smile. Ron said something about Hermione deciding to do a second essay "just in case", but Ginny ignored him, standing up to go fetch herself another Butterbeer.

She came back and sat next to Harry once more, glad they didn't have to stand up like half of the students had to – the common room wasn't exactly meant for everyone to be in it at the same time. She tried to listen to the conversations, but her attention frayed with every second that passed, until she was completely knotted up with angst. 9.30 pm. 10 pm. What if Hermione didn't come back before the party was over? Some of the first years were already slowly making their way to their dormitories, not wanting to fall asleep in their cauldrons the morning after – although Snape might enjoy the sight, given that some toxic mixture was in said cauldrons.

Her eyes were glued to the entrance now, and she was wringing her hands nervously in her lap, unable to concentrate on anything anymore. Please come, please please please....

'What's wrong with her?' she vaguely heard Ron ask to Harry, but she didn't catch Harry's reply...maybe he hadn't answered at all.

She was quite sure she knew what Ron thought, though; he had a crush on Hermione and he wasn't even half as eager as his little sister to see the curly-head come back. Of course, Ginny thought with a smile, Ron was probably not using the word "crush", even in his head. She was quite sure that even now, her big brother had still not come to term with his undeniable interest in his best friend. It was so obvious, though... She had started noticing it in November, and when she talked to Harry about it in January, once they were actual friends, he only confirmed her suspicions. She didn't know if Hermione felt the same way though; she had never dared asking her. Somehow...she really didn't want to know.

She was yanked away from her thoughts with the realisation that she couldn't see the door anymore – it was hidden from view by a group of students. Ginny sat up straight, trying to catch a glimpse of it above their heads, when Hermione squeezed her way through the crowd.

Ginny had never felt so happy in her life, or so eerie. It was an amazing feeling, like everything she could wish for had suddenly been granted. Hermione smiled at her – at her alone, Ginny was quite sure of that – and Ginny beamed in return, her breathing getting jerky with excitation. She blinked, sure Hermione would disappear, but she only got closer to them, looking exhausted and greatly relieved at the same time. She carefully slid her school bag under the couch to prevent any accident happening to her essay, then flopped down into the armchair closest to Ginny, which had gentlemanly been freed by Fred, who was always feeling more comfortable standing up anyway, where everyone could see and hear him.

'I thought I'd never make it!' Hermione sighed, a worn out smile on her lips. 'It was much harder and longer than I thought...'

'D'you want some beer?' Ron asked, standing up and making his way to the table in the centre of the room without even waiting for Hermione's answer. Ginny heard Harry snort, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Hermione, nor could she stop smiling. Hermione's gaze went up above Ginny's head and followed Ron's retreating figure, and for the very first time Ginny felt the pangs of jealousy.

'Ginny was worried you wouldn't make it.'

Ginny started and turned to Harry, glaring at the amused smile playing on his lips. She gulped down and turned back to Hermione, feeling very foolish all of a sudden, but the older girl smiled at her, a wide, sincere smile, and Ginny forgot about everything that wasn't Hermione once again.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur for the young redhead. Despite Ron's awkward attempts at monopolizing Hermione's attention, the latter mainly talked and laughed with Ginny, leaning towards her even though they were already as close as they could get; every time this happened Ginny felt butterflies rising up inside her stomach. There was something deeply intimate in the way Hermione's forehead would almost touch hers, hazelnut eyes staring deep into her own, voice down to what sounded like a whisper against the loud chattering of the crowd. And when Hermione noticed the rings on Ginny's hands and gently took Ginny's trembling fingers into hers, carefully examining them, her fingertips soft against Ginny's skin, Ginny thought she might just lose it and throw herself into Hermione's arms. She'd started buying cheap jewellery in Hogsmeade, and the accumulation of rings on her fingers made her look like a gypsy (or like professor Trelawney, as Ron had so indelicately remarked, but Ginny dearly hoped the gypsy comparison was the one Hermione was thinking about).

'I hadn't noticed those ones, are they new?' Hermione softly asked, her fingers sometimes taking hold of a ring and gently making it turn on Ginny's finger. Ginny stammered a 'yes', eyes glued to their hands, a weird feeling of pride fluttering somewhere inside of her.

By one in the morning, most students had gone to bed, all rather drunk on Butterbeer and sick on candies, and soon the little gang decided to do the same. Ginny and Hermione said their goodnights to the boys at the foot of the stairs, and once more Ginny felt unusually aggravated by Ron's shy glances at Hermione and his more than laughable attempt at saying something more meaningful than 'G'd'night' without looking suspicious. Once they had climbed a few steps, Hermione chuckled, a tender smile on the corner of her lips.

'What?' Ginny asked.

'Ron...' Hermione replied simply. Ginny felt her heart constrict in her chest and concentrated hard on not tripping, refusing to ask another question for fear Hermione would answer. But Hermione continued talking anyway. 'Ginny...?' she asked, looking sideways at the blushing teen.

'Y-yeah?'

'Do you think...I'm asking because, well he's your brother, you probably know him much better than I do...' Ginny bit her lip, dreading what was to come. 'Do you think he's really...' Hermione blushed a bit, which would have been awfully cute if it hadn't been about Ron, Ginny thought. 'I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, you know...'

It was like Ginny's heart had gone bungee jumping. It went right back up and even higher, and this time Ginny did trip, but Hermione caught her up in time.

'Drank a bit too much maybe?' she teased, her smile much sweeter to Ginny's eyes now.

She wanted time to freeze over. Her and Hermione, in a dark cold staircase in the middle of the night, all alone...why did it feel so perfect? But she knew she had to answer. It was too good a chance to miss.

'I don't think he's in love with you yet, if that's what you wanted to know.'

Hermione smiled a bit and sighed, looking relieved. 'Good...I mean, he's cute and all that, but...' She shrugged. 'He's just a friend.'

Ginny nodded silently, her heart still doing somersaults inside her chest. Then she realized they were standing in front of her dormitory's door. Hermione smiled at her once more and whispered her good-nights, before climbing up to her own room. Ginny looked at her until her feet had disappeared up the stairs, then silently slid into the room, careful not to wake any of her sleeping mates.

She lay down, fully awake, for what seemed like hours, replaying the evening in her head over and over. And then, suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, she knew. She knew as clearly as could be, without any doubt or mistake, that she was in love with her friend, with Hermione Granger. It looked so simple, so obvious, that she couldn't understand why she hadn't realized it earlier. Maybe that's what they call "coup de foudre", she thought. Maybe it's not for nothing that it's not called Love at first sight like it is here...maybe that's because it can happen even with somebody you already know.

And like a thunderbolt it had felt, alright. Ginny stared at the roof of her canopy bed for a while longer, unable to stop smiling; she didn't notice she had fallen asleep until Veruca's whining voice woke her up the next morning.