Chapter 3: Ginny’s POV

Sorry this took so long! I actually finished it a long time ago, but I was having problems uploading documents...anyway, here it is!

Disclaimer: I’m not JKR, and I don’t own Harry Potter. Duh.

A/N: A HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed! This is the first story I’ve written that I’ve actually finished, and I know I wouldn’t have actually remembered to keep writing if it wasn’t for the reviews!

SwishAndFlick31: I LOVED your idea, and I incorporated it into this chapter!

Now, on to the story. This has Harry and Hermione in the kitchens, from Ginny’s POV. This chapter is completely un-beta-ed, so all mistakes are my own.

What. A. Witch.

And I mean that in the worst possible way.

I cannot believe Hermione Granger would do this to me, her best friend. Oops, pardon me, former best friend. Because best friends do not try to steal each other’s boyfriends.

Okay, maybe Harry and I haven’t been getting along so great lately. But it’s not my fault. It’s hers. She’s all Harry can talk about. Hermione did this and Hermione did that and Oh, isn’t Hermione just the best? I’m sick of it. I’m his girlfriend. He loves me.

Right?

Even though our relationship isn’t perfect, I know Harry wouldn’t just go off with her like he just did. Unless he had a little help. What kind of help, you ask? Well, Hermione, the smartest witch in school, is in love with Harry. She probably knows every spell out there. Put two and two together and what do you get? A love potion, obviously. And right now in the hallway, she’s giving him another dose. Probably.

So, I have to follow them. I mean, my boyfriend is in trouble. She could be giving him a fresh batch of her love potion right now! It’s my duty to protect him, especially from her.

That’s why I’m hunched in a kitchen cabinet, watching her every move.

No sign of a love potion yet. She’s smart, so she’s probably just waiting for the perfect opportunity.

Which, um, probably would have been a while ago. She let him cut their slices of pumpkin pie and pour the glasses of butterbeer. Curious. Shouldn’t she have done it, so she could slip the potion in?

Never mind that. I know she’s giving him a love potion. She has to be, or they wouldn’t be here.

And he definitely wouldn’t be smiling like that. When was the last time he smiled at me like that? It’s been so long…

He wouldn’t be looking at her that way either. He’s never looked at me that way. I would definitely remember. His eyes soften. His entire body relaxes into his chair, and he just looks at her like he’s finally come home. Like she really and truly knows him. Which, looking back, she does.

Hermione’s not using a love potion. She doesn’t have to. Harry’s already in love with her, even if neither of them knows it.

He already loves her.

Um.

Huh.

The rest of the time in the kitchen is a blur. It’s a mixture of sadness, relief, and the urge to take off one of my stylish black heels, hold it to Harry’s throat, and force him to eat the chocolate bunny that I’m still holding. Force him to love me.

Because the truth is, I really do love him. Well, I did love him. It’s hard to love him knowing that he’s so in love with someone else. But I don’t think I loved the real him. I don’t even know the real him. Not like Hermione does.

Eventually, the two of them stand up, clear their dishes, and head back up to the common room. I follow, just out of sight. Just as we reach the portrait that leads to the common room, they pause. They simply stare at each other for a few seconds, and then Hermione pulls a handkerchief and brushes it lightly against the corner of Harry’s mouth.

“Crumbs,” she explains. They both blush.

There are a few more moments of silence. Even I’m thinking that he should lean down and kiss her, and I’m his girlfriend.

He almost does, too. He leans down, but pulls back when their lips are about an inch apart.

“Ginny,” he explains sadly.

“Ginny,” Hermione repeats, nodding slowly.

He is seriously the perfect boyfriend. I don’t deserve him. If I was in his shoes, I never would have thought about him. I suck.

Me. Ginny. I’m the only thing standing in the way of Harry’s happiness. Hermione’s, too.

I am so breaking up with him.

A/N: So, there it is, the end of the story. This one-shot became a three-chaptered fic! What did you think? I know it’s not the perfect ending, since Harry and Hermione aren’t actually together, but it’s implied that they will be as soon as Ginny breaks up with Harry.

I was originally going to make Ginny purely evil, but partway through I decided that it worked better if she wasn’t a soulless, demonic girlfriend.

I dislike Ginny, but not that much.

So, what did you think? Love it, like it, hate it? Review!

As a last note, I just want to thank everyone who reviewed. You don’t know how much it means to me! Every review makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And a last LAST note (I mean it this time): BIG BIG BIG thanks to SwishAndFlick31 for all of the fantastic and helpful reviews, as well as the Ginny-threatens-Harry-with-killer-shoes bit. I am eternally grateful!

Skye