Chapter 1

Unusual Discovery

I have spent most of the summer at the Burrow in the company of Hermione, Harry and my family. Ever since the moment that I met her, I have been captivated by her strong personality and wit; she is clever in all senses. I simply can't resist her allure.

Hermione and I have become very good friends: We can talk about almost anything. Sometimes she confides in me about things Harry, Ron and she are planning. Other times we talk about school stuff or silly things. She now talks about Ron, or "my little wimp bro" as I like to call him. I remember when she used to be in love with Victor Krum: how she used to fancy him, to admire him. Yeah, until my "wimp bro" came into her life…

One day, while in the Three Broomsticks, we were drinking firewhisky and trying to forget the memories of our loved ones in someone else's arms... We had just arrived after a New Year's Ball at Hogwarts. I had to endure seeing Harry dance with Hermione while I danced with Seamus… Ron was with Lavender and Neville with Luna. I couldn't stop myself from looking at Harry and Hermione. Jeez! I was with Seamus, but it was as if I was not there at all. I felt bad because I was hurting Seamus, but I couldn't help myself thinking about Harry or so I thought; I had always liked him. Since the first time I saw him, I was captivated. It was him that I had dreamed of as my knight in shining armour. However, my 'shining knight' never noticed me… not once. He had all sort of girls around him instead of me.

So here I am, at the pub, drinking to forget my pains while the rest of the group talks about the night among other things… we keep drinking until most of us are very drunk. Ronald is sitting next to Hermione and I am next to Harry. At some point we change places, but I don't remember exactly when. Anyway, all of a sudden I see Ron kiss Hermione on the lips and Harry and I look at each other and I can tell he and I share the same thought: "What the….!" The next thing I know, Harry is kissing me! …and I can't believe it: he, the boy of my dreams- the impossible dream, has become true… but wait! This is not what I want…. Weird but true and I just now realise it. My blood is boiling, my face turns red, and I simply can't sit there another minute… I excuse myself and go directly to the bathroom.

Hermione enters the bathroom and asks me what is going on. "Nothing." I tell her simply.

She's still there and I look at her, thinking how beautiful she looks in that pink dress, with her hair hanging loose down her bare back, with her makeup, with that little bit of red on her cheeks. And I see her, once more, in my mind, kissing Ronald, my wimp bro, and I want to scream! I think I'm going crazy. I can't feel what I'm feeling: she is my friend for God sake! What is wrong with me? So I simply keep quiet, hoping that she won't notice a thing.

She doesn't believe me and says, "Come on Ginny, I know you... what's wrong? Aren't you happy that Harry kissed you?"

I lie and tell her: "Yes, I'm happy. It's just that I don't know if he did it because he likes me or because he's drunk." I change the conversation subject and ask what she thinks about my brother, about him kissing her... Hermione tells me that she's stunned; she couldn't believe that Ron had kissed her, and that she actually liked it. It might have been the most beautiful moment for her, but the worst for me and I just realized it. I just don't want to talk anymore.

"Hermione, let's go back to the Common Room, I just want to get some sleep".

"Sure, Ginny."

After Hermione says goodbye to my wimp bro and Harry, who appeared to be in worse state than when we left them before, we decide to head straight to the castle and then get back to the dormitories and went to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up with a throbbing headache and was determined to not think about what happened the previous night. I got dressed and went to the Great Hall to have breakfast.

The four long tables had several plates with bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast strewn over them. Harry and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione who, as usual, was reading one of the books from the library.

When Harry and Ron saw me, they hid into the plates they were eating. Hermione turned to me for an instant, smiled, and then went back to her book.

I sat next to Luna at the Ravenclaw table. Eating breakfast in other houses was not usual at all for a Gryffindor but since I didn't want to be near Hermione (or Harry and Ron for that matter), and Luna and the Ravenclaws didn't mind my company, I tagged along. Luna, who had been reading the Quibbler when she saw me, stopped and graciously asked me about the night.

"You seem rather ill. Busy night?"

"Well, sort of," I replied. "We drank too much Firewhiskey…"

"Oh, I see. Well, did you know that Ron kissed Hermione? It's all over the school."

"Yes, I know…" I was honestly starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I also heard that Harry kissed you. Is that true?

"Yes, he did." To which I added "Look Luna, I have to go, I forgot I had something to do before class, I'll see you then."

"Oh ok, I'll see you in class." Luna said as I left. She looked down and continued to read the Quibbler finding: an "interesting" article about Fairy-Elf terminology by Matilda Pennington.

Later on that day, I found out that Harry had been looking for me but I wasn't eager to go see him, so I kept myself very busy. I couldn't avoid him any longer since we both were in the common room that night.

"Hey Ginny, how are you?" He seemed rather nervous.

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading in front of the fire and watched us intently.

"Hey Harry, I'm fine and you?"

"Oh, great... look Ginny about what happened last night..."

"Harry, please leave it that way, ok? We can talk about it some other time. I have to finish Snape's essay or I'll be in big trouble. Sorry." I ran past him, hardly stopping to notice his mouth agape, or the pleading look he shot my best friend.

I went to the library and sat to write the essay, which was proving very difficult as I was thinking about Hermione and her alone. Luna had just arrived at the Library and she seemed to be looking for someone. When she spotted me, she headed straight to where I was sitting and sat beside me.

"Hi Gin," she was speaking almost in a whisper. "I was looking all over for you." She smiled rather mischievously.

"Hey Luna," I replied as I came back to reality when I heard her voice.

"You look rather stressed, Ginny. Are you alright? You look like you need some fun. There's going to be a Girl Party tonight at the Room of Requirement and I was wondering if you'd like to go."

"I'd love to go Luna, but I have to finish Snape's essay…" I said, genuinely disappointed.

"If I help you with the essay will you come to the party?"

"Sure, thanks!" I said quite happily. Finally, I had something that might help me to clear my mind a little bit and forget, at least for a couple minutes, about Hermione. Oh my sweet Hermione… What am I going to do about you?