La courbe de tes yeux

Chapter Three: The Giant Squid Theory.

They didn't see Ron and Harry again before dinner time, when they both appeared in the Great Hall, obviously coming from the grounds. They sat at the Gryffindor table in silence, not right in front of Hermione and Ginny like they would usually have done, but a few seats on the left. Ron seemed to be completely oblivious to Hermione's presence, staring at his plate of food all through dinner, barely eating anything. Harry gave the girls a wobbly smile and tried to make small talk, but didn't eat much either.

Ginny kept staring at the boys, unable to determine what was off...well, apart from the slight bruise on Harry's cheek, and the similar bruise on Ron's right hand. One look at Hermione and she saw that her friend was wondering about the exact same thing. The boys looked...different. Hermione and Ginny would have expected them to be even more conniving than before, standing against feminine cruelty, but they barely exchanged a word or a look through the entire dinner.

Their cheeks were flushed. Well, it's cold outside, obviously... No, they weren't only flushed from the cold. It would have waned, and it didn't. Maybe they had had a heated argument. Knowing Ron, he'd obviously had a tantrum over his rejection, and judging by his hand and Harry's cheek, he had tried to take it out on him. But they didn't look angry with each other, either. More like...uncomfortable.

And then Ginny saw it. She knew what it meant, because Shawnee Netherfield had come back looking like that a few weeks before, and had told every fourth year girls it was because she had snogged Peter Paris behind one of the suit of armour.

'Oh god...Hermione!' she whispered as soon as Harry's attention had been caught by one of Fred's highly implausible stories.

'What?'

'Look at their lips!' Ginny hissed, not taking her eyes away from Harry's mouth.

'Ginny, I thought your crush on...ohmygod.'

Ginny swung round on the bench to look at Hermione, eyes wide. 'I'm not wrong, am I?'

But the only thing Hermione could say was 'Oh god...' again and again. She grinned and bit her lip not to burst into laughter. Ginny silently approved, beaming both at Hermione's sweetness and at their more-than-shocking discovery. Then Hermione slowly shook her head, still grinning. 'No, no...they can't...there must be some logical explanation...'

'Like what? Think the giant squid snogged them both?'

Hermione really laughed at that, drawing Harry's eyes back to them. He frowned a bit, obviously curious, but Hermione just waved her hand dismissively, trying her hardest to stop laughing.

Ginny hadn't felt so good since St Patrick's Day.

'I'm telling you, they have.'

'But...why? How?'

'Well, it's really simple, see. First you lean towards each other and then—'

'Ginny!'

'Sorry. I don't know. Maybe they had a fight and then Harry made Ron talk and...no, I don't know. But I'm sure they have. Unless your giant squid theory is still on the table...'

'It was your theory.'

'I wish we could have seen it happen...that way we'd be sure.'

'They did stay outside for an awful long time...'

Ginny and Hermione were both sitting in a corner of the common room, sneaking looks at Harry and Ron; the two boys were playing chess with an unusual lack of concentration and enthusiasm. It didn't help that they both seemed to have their eyes glued to their side of the chessboard, or that they kept bumping their hands together, drawing them back as if burnt.

'See? Why the hell would they act like this if...'

'But god...Harry and Ron? Not to sound smug or anything but didn't he just hope to date me this afternoon?' Hermione murmured, staring at him with disbelief.

'Well maybe he got so disappointed he turned his back on women.'

Hermione giggled softly, turning her eyes to Ginny. 'Maybe we should just ask Harry...y'know, just how did it go...we'll see if he seems embarrassed or not.'

'Yes...but we should do it now. If we wait until tomorrow, maybe he'll have come up with a good story.'

'You're right. We'll corner him when he goes to bed.'

Harry blushed and stammered and avoided their eyes, which was the damning evidence Hermione and Ginny were looking for, although he didn't actually say enough for them to know what had happened.

'Here's my theory,' Hermione said a few minutes later, sitting on her bed with Ginny. The other fifth-years were either still downstairs, or taking their shower. Ginny couldn't believe this was happening again, and so soon! Only a few hours before she had been sitting in the exact same spot, hugging a crying Hermione and not wanting to ever let go. But now Hermione was smiling and her eyes were shining with excitement, not with tears.

'Harry must have found Ron again outside, cursing the moon and the trees and the grass and whatever else his eyes could fall on. I guess Ron must have cursed at Harry as well, and knowing Harry, he didn't shout back. He must have waited for the storm to pass—'

'I guess Ron tried to drag him inside it, though...' Ginny said, thinking back to the red and blue mark on Harry's right cheek.

'Well...I have a hard time picturing Ron throwing his fist at Harry's face, but...'

'Oh, because picturing them kissing is easier?'

Hermione blushed slightly and continued: 'So after that, instead of hitting Ron back, Harry must have waited for him to calm down and tell him what had happened. I guess he had to wait a while.'

I had never noticed it before, how you almost always seem to be pouting, although your eyes are so bright and happy that you don't look gloomy...You do have pretty lips. Ginny started, surprised but not shocked at the come-back of her loving musings. It seemed even Ron and Harry sitting in a tree wasn't enough to make her eyes forget about every inch of Hermione's angelic face.

'And then...' Hermione sighed and smiled, shaking her head slowly. 'God, you know Ginny we're probably way off the mark...but I can just see them now...'

'Sitting under a tree,'

'Ron staring sullenly at the dark water spreading in front of them,'

'Harry gazing at him, not knowing what to do,'

'But feeling that something needs to be done,'

'Reaching out to shyly stroke Ron's hair,'

'And Ron turns his face towards him,'

'And they kiss.'

'And they kiss.'

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, smiles wide and eyes glittering, both of their hands frozen in mid-air as if they had just ended the most perfect, flawless demonstration of all times.

Then Hermione's shoulders started shaking, and soon they were both giggling to tears, curled up on Hermione's bed. Finally, Hermione wiped her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. 'God, I'll actually be very disappointed if we discover they haven't kissed, now that we've come up with all that...'

'No, no, they have to have kissed,' Ginny said firmly. 'And...tell me, have you noticed...'

'What?'

'I just realized...it's been bugging me all evening long, but I just couldn't place it... Have you looked at Ron's hand? His knuckles were scratched, but the back of his hand was red, too. Have you ever seen someone punch someone else with the back of their hands?'

Hermione's mouth slowly fell open. She frowned. 'Are you sure? I mean, about Ron's hand?'

'Yup. Saw it as clear as day.'

'So how do you think Ron got such a bruise?'

'I don't know,' Ginny admitted with a shrug. 'But I'm sure it's another clue as to their kissing!'

Hermione's lips twitched up and soon both girls were shaking with contained laughter again.

'Any...way,' Hermione gasped a few minutes later, desperately trying to regain her countenance. 'It's getting late... Maybe you should go to bed...'

'Hm? Oh. Yeah. Sure,' Ginny absentmindedly replied, her eyes glued to Hermione's lips. Well, if Harry and Ron kissed, maybe I could kiss you...maybe it wouldn't look so weird... She realized what she was doing and quickly got off the bed. 'Yeah, bed. Late. Uh...I'll see you tomorrow morning then.'

'Ginny, are you okay?' Hermione cocked her eyebrows, smirking slightly.

'Yeah...it's just...well I guess picturing my brother kissing Harry is weirding me out a little...' But it's nothing compared to when I picture myself kissing you...

'Try not to dream about them, then,' Hermione said, chuckling softly.

'Yes...let's hope that doesn't happen.' Ginny went to the door, but something was missing. 'Hermione?' she asked, turning back to the girl's bed. 'You don't...you won't feel bad again once I'm gone, right?'

Hermione smiled, a smile so tender it made Ginny shiver. 'No. I promise you. I'll stick to those two snogging.'

Ginny rolled her eyes and opened the door. 'G'd'night then.'

'Sweet dreams!'

Oh, don't worry. They will be.

The next nine days seemed to last an eternity, and while Hermione clearly suffered from Ron's coldness, Ginny revelled in their newly strengthened friendship. It was much easier to hang out with Hermione now that Ron (and therefore Harry) avoided her as much he could outside of classes. And the whole snogging mystery gave them an inexhaustible subject of conversation.

'Did you see the way he just glanced at him? I swear, I swear, he blushed.'

'...god...I wonder if they kissed again...'

'And if they haven't, do you think they'll get over it one day?'

'I wish we could know what happened for sure...'

'Come on, he did it again, look!'

As the days went by though, Ginny and Hermione spotted less and less awkward looks or confused silences, until they were forced to admit that maybe...maybe they had been wrong all along.

But by then they didn't need the Giant Squid Theory to fuel their discussions, and Ginny continued doing her best to make sure Hermione wouldn't have time to think about how her friendship with Ron had almost ceased to exist.

Ginny wanted to send Harry a Thank You card almost twice a day.

'Hey Ginny, mind if I sit down?'

Ginny looked up from her roll of parchment and came nose to nose with Harry. She smiled and casually hid all the margins with her forearm. 'Sure!'

'Hermione's not here?' Harry asked, sitting down opposite Ginny's place, a mischievous gleam in his clear green eyes. It was a cold grey Thursday afternoon and the common room was almost empty, most of the students still attending classes or studying in the library. Luck had it that Ginny's and Hermione's schedules matched, so that they usually would have been hanging out together till the end of the evening.

'She's in the library...I think...' Ginny saw Harry look down at her arm and discreetly checked that her parchment was hidden from view.

The mischievousness in Harry's eyes reached his lips. 'Mm, I think it'd been a whole week I hadn't seen one without the other...'

Ginny raised her eyebrow. 'Really? Mm, and where's Ron?'

Harry laughed. 'Knew you'd ask that. He's downstairs somewhere...well actually I'm not sure where...'

Ginny smiled and looked back down at her parchment, wondering if she could roll it up before Harry noticed what was written on it. But Harry wasn't interested in what was laid on the table; his warm stare never left Ginny's face, scrutinizing it much like Ginny had done a few weeks before, after the Giant Squid Incident, as she and Hermione had eventually named it.

'What?' she asked, feeling her cheeks flushing. She hated when people looked at her like that...when people looked at her, full stop. She had never been comfortable with that, she didn't know why. Growing up with six brothers should have prepared her for life in society, but it hadn't. Maybe because she had spent most of her time hiding somewhere in the Burrow, either to create little worlds of her own, or just to avoid the twins – 'Such a wonderful guinea pig...t'would be a shame not to use her!' they would say when they had finished designing new sweets, looking at their little sister with exaggeratingly wicked eyes and rubbing their hands together.

'Nothing. Sorry...was just lost in thoughts.'

Thoughts about me? Ginny thought, then felt a tickling urge to laugh creep along her throat. She couldn't even start to think about what such a sentence would have done to her a mere year before.

Just then, a bright mop of red hair came crouching out of the entrance hole. Ron hurried to Harry and Ginny's table, beaming.

'Whoa, what happened?' Harry asked.

Something dark stirred inside of Ginny's stomach.

'Oh nothing,' Ron replied casually, but the twinkling in his eyes was all but casual. 'Just talked with Hermione.'

Before she could even process Ron's words, Ginny stood up and left the room, mumbling something about forgetting a book in her dormitory. She was shaking from head to toe when she collapsed on her bed, eyes clouded with tears.