A/N - Disclaimer: I do not own the HP universe or anything that comes with it. I am just visiting.

None of the students understood why Headmistress McGonagall declared History of Magic to be compulsory for every class. Considering the Second Magical War her reasoning was: To be able to learn from history, history must not be forgotten. The reality of the classroom was different. Professor Bins floated behind his desk and rambled on about the dates of one goblin war or the other, as if he had never acknowledged anything that happened after his death. Without looking up. Without being heard. Empty gazes went out of the window. Quills scribbled anything but records of the lesson. Neville took care of a plant. Ginny brooded over a Quidditch chart. Luna was Luna. Padma was reading something about Defence against the Dark Arts. Paravati was sleeping. Harry and Ron had retreated into a Muffliato bubble and played Exploding Snap. Not even Hermione was able to conjure up her usual concentration to fill her parchment with numbers, dates and facts. It did not matter. She would be able to catch up.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were back at Hogwarts. All three had decided to return to their Alma Mater, which they always considered to be a refuge. Even without Albus Dumbledore, even after everything, that had happened last May. Even thought they were in the centre of attention from time to time, but they were used to it from their schoolmates. It was still in a different extent than in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade or anywhere else in the magic community. Furthermore, many of their schoolmates had been members of the DA, had offered resistance to the Carrows or even had fought alongside them in the Battle of Hogwarts. The last school year held the promise of another year of peace before they had to enter the so-called real live. One year, in which the public excitement caused by the defeat of Lord Voldemort had a chance to calm down and a normal course of live could settle in.

Hogwarts had resumed to its usual mode with some hiccups after the renovation. Nobody was surprised, that Hermione became Head Girl. Before the beginning of the term Harry rejected the badge of the Quidditch captain to everyone's astonishment. He still played as seeker for the Gryffindor team. He sought the relaxation offered by the game. He did not want the responsibility for the team. Ginny received the badge instead.

Hermione wrote line after line. The parchment filled inch per inch with her clear handwriting. She tried to bring some order in her thoughts. She was not able to do for herself what she was able to do for others. In their fifth year she had told Harry, why his first kiss with Cho had been so wet. She could tell Ron, why he was not able to grasp the extent of Cho's emotional chaos. But she was not able to cope with her own feelings. Nothing turned out like it had been predicted, like everyone including herself had expected it. Ron. She should be together with Ron and be happy with him. But the romantic tension between them snapped after the kiss. Not the first kiss during the battle of Hogwarts, no. Too much stress, hope and angst discharged in that kiss. It was not possible for them to realize at that time that something was not quite as it should be with that kiss. After the battle they found some privacy in the ravaged school grounds. When they kissed for the second time, they felt as if brother and sister had kissed. Nevertheless, back at the Burrow they tried to go to the next level. Awkwardly they took each other's tops off. They stopped when they tried to unbutton their trousers. Ron and Hermione could not deny the feeling anymore that this was not what they wanted. Relieved they put on their close again and ran from each other. Hermione grasped a book. Ron took his broom. He went somewhere outside. They met again at the dinner table. All was well. Both were surprised but they could be friends again. Between them everything was ok. It was more exhausting to tell the others, that they would not become a dream couple. Especially Mrs. Weasley took the news not very well. For days she tried to find out, if Hermione had someone else or why Ron was not good enough for her until Ron took her aside and talked to her. Ginny only looked at her, did not say a thing. Hermione was not able to interpret her friend's gaze.

Hermione was in love. Not with Ron. With Ginny. She remembered, she had seen the red-haired young women for the first time as a small girl on track 9 3/4. Their families had picked up Harry, Ron, and Hermione after their first year at Hogwarts. Ginny clung to her mother's hand and waited for four of her brothers to return from the school she had wanted to visit herself so badly. A few months later Hermione talked to Ginny for the first time when they and their families met in Diagon Alley where they went shopping for books, cloaks, and portion ingredients for the upcoming school year. Ginny was so agitated. Harry had missed the right fireplace while he was traveling with floo powder for the fist time. The Weasleys could not find him. The young witch almost forgot that she was about to get her first wand. After the mysteries of the Chamber of Secrets had been solved, Hermione was shocked. She had not seen that Ginny had been in a tight corner during her entire first school year. At that point Hermione decided to become a better friend to her.

Ginny had unbelievable inner strength. Not quite twelve years old, she had found it in herself to deal with Tom Riddle's abuse and to return to a normal live of a teenager – as normal as it gets in the magical community. By and by Ginny developed into a strong young woman. She stood her ground against her six brothers. By now she was physically able to see eye to eye with Ron and was the equal of him. Her awkwardness with boys had vanished. She managed to be accepted into to the Quidditch team and gained an important position. She was popular and extrovert. But Hermione knew her quieter and more serious side that showed when they both were in the library together or when they sat by the lake where they talked about their families, their wishes and plans. Maybe Hermione was the only one who knew Ginny that way.

Hermione could not say when exactly she had fallen in love with Ginny. It had been too easy not to think about her own sexuality considering all the life threating situations she had to face since she hat set foot into the school of witchcraft and wizardry. Hermione found in Harry and Ron friends for the first time, had spent time with them and had many adventures with them. That was a strong bond. With Ginny she was herself, not only the bookworm. She always tried to be close to her. During their quest for the horcruxes, Hermione absorbed every hint she could get, that Ginny was ok – either by hearsay, listening to Potter Watch, or Bill's accounts in Shell Cottage. Hermione thought about Ginny's strength while she recovered from Bellatrix's torture under Fleur's care in Shell Cottage. The thought of the redhead gave her strength to continue with the quest.

Hermione could not deny it. Little by little she had fallen in love. It was during her last visit at the Burrow after the battle in the summer when she finally realized it. Like every summer before, she shared a room with Ginny. Hermione knew all her faces. The concentrated. The hungry – she was a Weasley after all. The relaxed. The sad. And all the others. When she was nervous, she played with a lock of her hair. When daydreaming, she did that, too. Maybe Hermione was the only one who had noticed the small constellation of freckles that looked like the zodiac of Leo. It was only visible, when Ginny tied her hair back. Hermione caught herself starring at Ginny, or listening for her steps after she went to bed. One touch or an embrace took just a second longer than necessary. When she saw Ginny and Harry together, Hermione retreated quickly.

Harry, Hermione's best friend Harry. It was Harry, who always had Ginny's romantic attention. It was Hermione, who had advised her to be more herself and to date other boys, so she would be less shy around him. It had worked well. Harry and Ginny got together just before the war. He broke up with her before he went with Ron and Hermione on their secret quest. One moth after their return, he and Ginny got back together. Since then, they were on and off with intervals that got shorter and shorter. Back at Hogwarts Hermione found Ginny often with red eyes at her favourite spot by the lake, because Harry came up with a reason for not being her, for needing space. He always came back to her. When he had tried the last time, Ginny did not take him back. She said that it was finally over. That was three weeks ago. Still Harry did not leave her alone. Only that morning he had wanted to talk with her alone. Ginny changes places, so that Ron and Hermione sat between her and Harry. He did not seem impressed to be impressed. Just before the History of Magic lesson Harry told Ron that he planed a big romantic gesture. Then all would be well. He did not see how Ron's face turned deep red.

That conversation was the trigger for Hermione's frantic writing. Harry was her best friend after all. She wished him all the best. He had gone through so much. Nevertheless, that did not serve as an excuse for everything. Every time she saw Ginny hurting, her heart was torn apart. She did not want to see Ginny crying again. Why had Ginny accepted Harry's behaviour for so long? She deserved to be treated well. But what could Hermione say? Could she say anything with a quiet conscious that was free of her own wishes?

Hermione wanted to be with Ginny. She wanted to go out with her, to Hogsmeade, to Muggle cinemas, just spend time with her. When Hermione admitted it to herself, she imagined how much more intimate their meetings at the lake could be. How it would be just to be near her. To touch her hair. To have her in her arms. To kiss her, on the mouth, on the Lion, a little lower on the neck. To… Stop. At this point she should not think any further.

Did she have a chance at all? Ginny was into boys and into one especially. That had not changed over the years, no matter what had happened. How could Hermione compete with that? And when she tried, she would risk her friendship with Harry, her friendship with Ginny. How would Ginny react if she knew how Hermione felt about her?