A Life More Ordinary

Better than watching Gellar bending silver spoons

Better than witnessing newborn nebulae in bloom

She who sees from up high smiles and surely sings

Perspective pries your once weighty eyes and it gives you wings

I haven't felt the way I feel today

In so long it's hard for me to specify

I'm beginning to notice how much this feels

Like a waking limb, pins and needles, nice to know you

Goodbye, nice to know you

Goodbye, nice to know you

Deeper than the deepest Cousteau would ever go

And higher than the heights of what we often think we know

Blessed she who clearly sees the wood for the trees

To obtain a birds eye is to turn a blizzard to a breeze

I haven't felt the way I feel today

In so long it's hard for me to specify

I'm beginning to notice how much this feels

Like a waking limb, pins and needles, nice to know you

Goodbye, nice to know you

Goodbye, nice to know you

So could it be that it has been there all along?-Incubus

Ginny walked up to her dorm room, wondering what to do. She was stuck with Harry for the day on Saturday. Under normal circumstances she would have been ecstatic. But now, she was miserable. Harry should want to go with her to Hogsmeade because he liked her, not because he was lonely. ‘Boys!’ Ginny fumed. ‘They’re hard to deal with and yet they can be so wonderful.’ Ginny walked quietly into her dorm room and silently pulled on her pajamas. They were Gryffindor red plaid and had been a gift from her parents last Christmas. Ginny threw open the curtains to her bed and flopped onto her bed. There was only one person who she could talk to about this; unfortunately she wouldn’t be able to talk to her at breakfast because the object of her affections would be there. Ginny sat back up and padded quietly from the room.

She entered the seventh year’s dormitory and looked around for Hermione’s bed. Damn! In all the darkness she was turned around and she had no clue who was who. She walked into one of the posts on a bed and stubbed her toe. “Bloody hell!” she yelped.

There was a movement in the bed. “Ron?”

Ginny laughed. Leave it to Hermione to think someone coming to her bed in the middle of the night and yelling, “Bloody hell!” was Ron. “No, Hermione it’s me, Ginny.” Ginny made her way around the bed and pulled the curtains open. “Can I come in?”

Hermione sat up in bed and motioned for her to sit down. “Is there something wrong, Ginny?” She looked anxious.

“No, not anything serious. I’ve just had a trying day is all. I was hoping you could help me.” Ginny pulled the curtains closed and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m going to whisper because the walls have ears.” She mouthed “Lavender and Parvati” to Hermione.

Hermione rolled her eyes and nodded in their direction. “They’re so nosy!” she whispered to Ginny. She scooted closer so they could have decent conversation without repeating everything they said several times. “What’s wrong? You seemed okay at dinner.”

Ginny sighed and pulled at the coverlet to Hermione’s bed. “You know that I had a crush on Harry for ages. I told you I was giving up on him, right?” Hermione nodded and motioned for Ginny to continue. “Well, I guess I’m not over him. I still kind of like him.” Ginny refused to meet Hermione’s eyes; she was so ashamed of continuing to have a crush on Harry.

“I see.” Hermione paused and took Ginny’s hand. “How long have you been aware of this continuing affection?”

Ginny giggled nervously. “Please don’t make it sound so clinical, Hermione.”

“I’m sorry.” Hermione clamped her hand around Ginny’s. “So how long have you known about this?”

“I guess it never really went away. I mean, I went out with Michael Corner. It was really nice and it kept me from thinking about Harry and Cho, you know? But in the back of my mind it’s always been about me and him.” Ginny looked into Hermione’s eyes. “You think I’m pathetic, huh?”

Hermione looked shocked. “Pathetic? No! Honestly, I have no room to think anyone’s pathetic because of who they like. Look who I’m dating.” Hermione grabbed a pillow and put it behind her so she could lean against the headboard of her bed. “It’s just that I wonder if you think he likes you back as anything but a friend.”

Ginny frowned. “That’s my problem. I don’t know. He asked me to Hogsmeade this weekend,” Ginny was about to say more when Hermione sat up and looked excited. “Wait. He asked me to Hogsmeade and I accepted, except that then he told me he wanted me to go with him because you and Ron were going Christmas shopping together. He didn’t want to feel like a third wheel.”

Hermione leaned back against her bed again and sighed. “What a jackass! I heard he gave you a scone a couple of weeks ago, too.” Hermione looked at Ginny. “It seems like he is trying to get to know you better at least.”

Ginny joined Hermione by the headboard of the bed. “I know. I should be happy about that. Last time I had a crush on him, he didn’t even know I was alive.”

Hermione grimaced and looked over at Ginny. “Do you really think that?”

“I know that,” Ginny replied.

“It wasn’t that he didn’t know you were alive. He didn’t know how to deal with the idea that someone had so obvious a crush on him. It made him uncomfortable.” Hermione focused her gaze on the foot of the bed. “For someone to like him, without knowing him was strange. Think about his family. They’re awful to him. He didn’t understand how anyone could like him when they didn’t really know him.”

Ginny sighed and thumped her head against the headboard. “But I did know him! Ron wrote all the time about what a nice friend he was and what adventures you all got up to. I liked you before you knew me and it didn’t bother you.”

Hermione laughed. “That’s because I have had a normal family. Also, we both wanted someone to be like a sister to us. I liked you because you were Ron’s sister. Fred and George talked about you before you came to Hogwarts, Ron didn’t. I expect he was bit jealous of you at home.” Hermione fiddled with the edge of her pillow. “I think Harry’s learned to become suspicious of strangers. He didn’t know if you liked him because of his fame or his personality. He has to be so careful about that.”

“I know. For a while, I did like him because he was Harry Potter, the boy who saved the world. After he saved me, he became Harry the boy who risked his life for me. How can you not like that?” Ginny turned and looked at Hermione. “Do you think he’ll ever see me as more than Ron’s little sister?”

“I think he’s trying. He wouldn’t have brought you the scone or asked you to Hogsmeade if he didn’t want to get to know you better,” Hermione reasoned with Ginny. “I mean, if all he wanted was someone to replace Ron when he was busy with me, he’d treat you like one of the lads. He wouldn’t care if Ron ate your scone or ask you to Hogsmeade.”

Ginny looked at Hermione puzzled. “What do you mean, he wouldn’t ask me to Hogsmeade?”

“From my experience with boys, if they think of you as one of the lads, they won’t ask you to go somewhere with them. They can do a couple of things. One: they could assume you’re coming with them because you always save their butts. Two: they will meet meet with you at the place. It’s not like they were purposely looking for you, it’s just that you met up and now they have another person in the gang. You see what I’m saying?”

Ginny nodded slowly. “You’re saying boys don’t follow the normal customs of society. They just act like asses around each other?”

Hermione smiled and nodded. “Exactly. Look how long I have tried to train Ron. He still doesn’t get it. I think Ron’s been a bad influence on Harry.”

“So what should I do?”

“If you want to spend time with Harry, then go. If you are worried about thinking there’s more to it then there really it, don’t go. You have to protect yourself, Gin.”

Ginny nodded and decided to think it over. She would have all of Friday to sort out what she wanted to do. She leaned over and hugged Hermione. “Thanks, Hermione. I appreciate you listening to me.”

Hermione hugged Ginny back. “You’re my best girlfriend. I don’t mind at all. Besides, I was wondering what was going on with you.”

Ginny and Hermione said their goodnights and Ginny finally went to sleep. Before going to sleep, she realized she hadn’t felt this confused in a very long time.