Title: Tit For Tat
Author: Arsenic
Rating: PG
Fandom/Pairing: HP, HG/GW
Disclaimer: None of the characters/concepts in this fiction are mine, they are being borrowed off of JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, and Warner Brothers.
Summary: Ginny figures out what she wants.

This story was written for Murmur311 as part of FTV. She donated to the John Kerry Campaign. Thanks to her for being a part of this and involving me in that part.

*

For Hermione, first and second year Quidditch was mostly about Harry and the fact that she was a bloody good friend. Third year it -- suddenly and inexplicably -- started being about Angelina. Angelina with her muscles and braids and stealth on a broom and sure, Harry was good, but in the looks department, he had nothing on Angelina. So third and fourth year, Quidditch was about eye candy. Fifth year, Quidditch was about falling in love.

This was a bit unexpected as, well, eye candy was one thing, but Hermione was honestly up to her eyeballs with emotional attachment to Ron and Harry, and having to worry about fitting a third party in was horribly inconvenient. Luckily, Ginny, with her spread-me-open-and-lick-me athlete's thighs and flyaway red hair that should have been casual but was really lush and a magnet for Hermione's fingers, took care of the issue by slowly making her way through enough boys to make up for Ron's seeming lack of interest in the opposite sex. All right, excluding Hermione, but Hermione was pretty sure that was more about Ron's inability to admit that it was Harry he was jonesing for than any valid attraction. Love Ron as she did, the thought of her being with him made her see disasters grander than anything Voldemort could think to cook up.

It wasn't until sixth year, when Ginny broke up with Evan Simons and declared herself done with the male populace at large that Hermione felt a general pooling of panic in the area where she liked to keep her heart. Ginny announced it without looking at her, as though it was a foregone conclusion that all women older than Ginny -- even Hermione, whose one "notable dating experience" had been her ill-fated tête-à-tête with Viktor -- were obviously of one mind on this issue.

As calmly as she could, Hermione said, "Surely there's someone- I mean, you've always liked Harry."

Ginny looked at her oddly. "We're saving Harry for Ron, didn't you know?"

Hermione had figured, but seeing as how she was pretty sure Harry wasn't gay, she felt that at some point they were all going to have to face up to the fact that, "I'm not sure that's going to work out."

Ginny sighed. "He is a bit asexual isn't he? Which doesn’t help me a mite either but I suppose it's always nice to have a situation more ballsed up than it previously was."

Hermione put a hand on her shoulder. "Ron'll get over it, honestly."

"I just worry that their friendship won't survive the getting over it part. It'd be like losing family, you know."

Hermione did. Being Gryffindor more through and through than anybody probably suspected, there were very few things that Hermione viscerally feared, but the breaking of emotional bonds such as that one was pretty high up on the list. Yet another good reason not to be paying attention to the way Ginny's breasts strained just-so-much against her button down. It was planned, Hermione knew, but she was pretty sure it wasn't planned for her, so much as Neville, who was watching them from under the tree with a look of faint wistfulness, and Zach Smith, who was heading their way.

Ginny smiled up at him when he came over and said, "Unless you're planning some type of Quidditch event, scurry on off."

Zach opened his mouth with what looked like a protest and Ginny glared in a mixture that Hermione often thought was an amalgamation of Molly's you-will-do-this-or-so-help-me-Merlin stare and Professor Snape's whither-and-die-twit look of affection. Zach said, "Maybe later," and headed off.

Ginny muttered, "Not likely." Louder, she said, "Cho's got her eye on him. Hell if I can figure out why, but whatever. Off limits. Besides. Boy. Which I'm done with."

Hermione gave Ginny's shoulder one more pat and bit back a sigh. As if it weren't enough that a corporeal Voldemort was hot on Harry's tail. This was going to be a long year.

*

Ginny said, "Tutor me in Potions and I'll hand over anything I have that is of value to you. I need an Outstanding."

Hermione made space at the table she was using, closing books that were more for possible than probable reference. "I'll get to the extortion part later, just tell me the problem."

The problem was that they were in the unit of Irritants. Potions that were the equivalent of hexes. It wasn't that Ginny didn't have an evil streak that well-rivaled the twins's sometimes. It was that Ginny needed an Outstanding so that she could specialize in Healing for magical diseases. Ginny's Gran on the Weasley side had died of one when Ginny was eight, and the intervening years hadn't done anything to dampen Ginny's enthusiasm about saving other people from that fate. All of Ginny's energy in Potions was generally focused on Potions which helped, so ones that harmed tended to throw her. Hermione was used to providing a little help at least once a year, if not more.

Hermione scanned the assignment, remembering it one line in but making sure that Snape hadn't changed anything. He did that every once in a while. Hermione figured it was probably his only form of entertainment. Well, that and whatever death defying stunts he was continually disappearing to do for the Order.

Hermione racked her brain for the closest beneficial Potion that Ginny would have already learned about and said, "You have to think of it like a Jellifying Potion." Jellifying Potions were a series of muscle relaxants, made to calm a person and relieve pain.

"This does sort of the opposite. Not exactly, but thinking of it that way probably won't screw anything up. The difference is all in the nightshade. It's a Muggle venom. Cameris used it because its effects on a wizard are drastically less than on a Muggle; it's like putting a bit of rotting food in the Potion. It weakens rather than kills." Cameris was a Potions Master who had lived five hundred years before and made a name for himself in fairly complex Irritants.

"Nightshade," Ginny said. "I should tell dad about that. That's not the only difference."

"No, but it's the significant one. And it's the one he wants you to research."

Ginny kissed her on the cheek and stood up to go find the necessary books. "The best is what you are. What's your fee?"

"It can wait until the end of the unit." Another kiss. Hermione paid oh-so-careful attention to the History of Magic assignment laying out in front of her.

"Give me that long and I'll think up something fantastic on my own, see if I don't."

As that would probably be safer, Hermione challenged, "Surprise me, then."

"Oh, I will." Ginny laughed a bit, short and breathy, and spun around to head into the stacks.

If Hermione hadn't known better, she would have sworn Ginny was flirting with her. Hermione closed her eyes. She obviously needed to start getting more sleep.

*

Ginny caught Hermione enjoying one of the last days she would probably be able to sit by the lake at all. As it was, the extra cloak Ginny threw around her shoulders was appreciated.

"Bad time?" Ginny asked. "Saw you out here. I know you're studying, but I'm needing a bit of a favor."

As it was never really a "bad time" to be seeing Ginny and Hermione was actually just reading ahead in Transfigurations, she said, "More tutoring?"

"No, for the minute I'm managing to be clever enough on my own."

Hermione gave her a disparaging look. "It's not like that."

Ginny waved the thread of conversation away. "You have plans for the Hogsmeade visit two weeks from now?"

"Wanted to get a bit of Halloween shopping done." Hermione sent her parents small gifts on all the more wizard-centric holidays. She didn’t want them feeling left out of her world.

"Mind if I accompany?"

Hermione shut her book and set it to the side. "Why?"

"Because I need an excuse to get Zach Smith off my arse and I was going to tell him that I've been promising to help you with whatever you need help with for weeks now and I can't possibly back out on one of my oldest friends."

Hermione pulled her knees up to her chest, as though it might help the tightening happening in that area. "Look, not to be awful to you or anything, but why don't you just say yes to Zach? I mean, he's not horrible or anything and one or two dates and you can just tell him it's not working out."

Ginny was slow to answer. "You've probably never done this, you don't seem the type. I mean, I figure you probably know exactly what you want before you go after something or think it's not worth the pursuing at all, but- All right, so I try things, I mean, that's obvious. People, spells, things, I go through them. Because I have six older brothers and not one of them except the twins is one whit alike and sometimes it leaves me wondering who in the world I can possibly be? I mean, what's left, right? I know the parts of me that are like each of them, but I figure there have to be differences too, so I just try and try and try and sometimes things work and sometimes they don't."

Hermione didn't understand. "But then why not Zach?"

"Because sometimes all that trying leads to my knowing something. I manage to find some part of me that isn't like anything or anyone else or some desire that I didn't previously realize was there but that is obviously the right one."

Hermione worked the conversation through her head. "So you don’t want to say yes to Zach because there's something else that you want and he'll get in the way of that."

"Yes," Ginny sounded relieved.

Hermione's stomach clenched as she forced herself to unravel Ginny's code even further. "Zach gets in the way, then, but I do not?"

Ginny looked at her then, eyes pleading. "Hermione."

"Tell me getting away from Zach is just an excuse." Because if it wasn't, Hermione was never going to be able to speak to Ginny while breathing again. Ever.

"It's just an excuse," Ginny said.

Hermione took a breath.

*

Ginny was a clever gift buyer. She knew how to make small amounts of money stretch further than they reasonably ought to, and by late morning of the Hogsmeade visit, Hermione had perfect gifts for her mum and dad and a whole afternoon to throw away.

"I'd take you to where I first started thinking about how much I wanted to kiss you, but it's kind of sleazy for a first date," Ginny said.

Hermione laughed. "Oh?"

"It was at that first DA meeting. Because, c'mon, Harry would never have come up with something like that on his own. He has neither the arrogance nor the tactician's sense for it. So we're forming this secret society, which is pretty sexy just left on its own, and you're the woman behind it all taking very little to none of the credit and I just looked over and thought, 'I want my brother's best friend.'"

"Mine's less interesting," Hermione said.

"Lemme guess, you have the hots for girls who can brew a Pepper-up in less than half an hour?"

"Actually," Hermione blushed, "that is pretty shaggable material, but not when I got all," she made gooey eyes.

Ginny waited. Then, "You gonna tell me?"

"That goal you made in the first Quidditch game you played last year, the one where you faked the other team's Keeper out. Clever and your flying was…exquisite."

Ginny blinked. "I'd never've figured you for a jock watcher."

Hermione shrugged. "Now you know my dirty little secret. We can never break up."

Ginny grinned. "That was already sort of the plan. Thanks for facilitating it so quickly."

"In the name of avoiding sleaze, you want to be boring and hit up the Broomsticks?"

"There are times when I wish Hogsmeade wasn't so small. It's not that I mind showing you off, even just a bit, but I'd kind of prefer some privacy."

Hermione knew how she felt. "We can skip out early and head back to the school. There are places on the way, I'm sure."

"There are."

Hermione figured that if anyone would, Ginny would know. "We could say we have homework that needs doing."

"Or we could just leave holding hands and let them draw their own conclusion."

Hermione thought she should be used to being claimed, as that was obviously what Viktor had in mind. That never felt quite this pleasurable. She was pretty sure there should have been a part of her mind refuting Ginny's behavior toward her, but really, if one of the prettiest girls in the school wanted to walk out of Hogsmeade's most popular hang out holding her hand, who was Hermione to argue? "Or we could do that."

Ginny kissed her quickly. "A preview, so you'll want to leave when I'm ready."

Hermione was so glad that Ginny had no idea how unnecessary that had been.

*

Ginny curled up over Hermione, basking in the late night emptiness of the common room. "I found something to pay you back for the Potions help."

"I told you-"

"To surprise you, shut it."

Hermione sighed, but did so. Ginny held out a small wood figurine. Hermione took it in her palm. "Hey, wow. A badger. You remembered."

Ginny said, "I remember things about you I didn't even know I knew. What does that say for my subconscious, eh?"

"Where'd you get this?"

"Oh, well, there's not really a lot to do out in Romania when Charlie's not trying to get himself fried, so he took up woodcarving as a hobby. I asked for a favor. And, well, I totally had to tell him all about us to get him to do this, because Charlie's a great bloody arse who just won't stop until he has all the answers he wants, but it's all right because he was really cool about it and promised to use the strongest type of wood he could find, so I think that's him being metaphorical."

Hermione studied the little figure. "More than you know. This kind of wood is the same type used for the whole Nimbus line."

Ginny rested her forehead against Hermione's. "I promise never to involve my mentally deficient brothers in our relationship ever again."

Hermione laughed. "It may be too late. Ron found the hicky on my wrist and I'm horrible at lying to him, so-"

"So that's why he isn't speaking to me. Good to know."

"It's a thinking things over not speaking, not a mad not speaking. Harry's doing the same thing."

"How many other people are?"

"Um, Neville was for a bit, but then he asked me if this meant he could ask Ron out, since he'd sort of been respecting my territory in that area. That should be it. Well, I mean, at least until tomorrow morning, wherein I'm sure the entirety of the Great Hall with the possible exception of the Slytherins will know."

Ginny said, "I don't care that they know. I want them to. I just think I wanted to be the one to see their faces first."

"Sorry to have robbed you."

"I'll find some way for you to make it up."

"The next unit of Potions is a bitch."

"I was hoping for something involving a little bit more tongue."

"Let me think on it."

Ginny smacked Hermione playfully. Then she kissed her. "Or maybe I'll just go ahead and take what is my due."

Hermione didn't resist.