“Do you reckon he’s even happy with her? Cho?” she asked Demelza that evening, over their charms homework. “She seems a bit quiet. Not exactly the chatty type.”
“I don’t think Harry is very chatty either,” Demelza said.
“Right, but he’s not sulky. Cho is sulky.”
Demelza removed the end of her quill from her mouth. “Ginny,” she said carefully, “her old boyfriend just died.”
“Exactly!” It exploded out of her, beyond her control - “don’t you reckon she’s moved on too quick? I mean, how long has it been? What, a few months?”
“Ginny,” Delmeza hissed, “you can’t just say stuff like that!”
“Well, someone’s got to.”
“People will think you’re a right ass!”
“Whatever.” She stared back down at her textbook. The words swam in front of her. Connecting incantations and wand movement. Hand placement. There was a poorly drawn phallus in the upper corner - all her supplies were second-hand, of course.
Harry always got new stuff. Then again, Harry didn’t have parents. She remembered sitting across from him at Grimmauld place, that idiotic, drooling look on his face. “I forgot.” He forgot she’d been possessed by Voldemort. God, even thinking about it made her want to spiral into a ferocious rage -
So, Harry had no parents, Ginny got hand-me-downs. It all evened out in the end, didn’t it?
“I just think it's a bit odd,” she said evenly, diplomatically. “I’m allowed to think something is odd, aren’t I?”
Demelza blinked. “Well, sure.”
“Right. What are you putting for number six – the question about levitation theory framework.”
***
She saw Harry again the following morning, as she was rushing between herbology and runes. He and Cho were striding down the corridor like they were walking down the aisle of their own wedding, hands interlocked. The sight of it made Ginny’s heart sink right into her small intestine.
Harry - fucking git - grinned when he saw her. “Hi, Ginny!” He did look a fair bit happier than he had been, recently. Though he’d been moping around the castle like a wraith - there was hardly anything to compare it to.
“Hello, Harry.”
To her great displeasure, Harry stopped walking. Cho didn’t seem too pleased by his impromptu detour either.
“I need to get to class, Harry,” she said quietly.
“What?” Harry spun around. Cho looked miffed. “Oh, sorry, Cho. Yeah, I’ll see you.”
Cho huffed. Ginny heard her mother in her head, as she always seemed to at the worst times – be the bigger person. So she tried for a polite smile.
“Nice seeing you, Cho.”
“Uh-huh.” Cho strode off.
“What’s the matter with her?” Ginny asked after she had left.
Harry frowned. “I don’t know. She’s awfully emotional, Cho. I always feel like I’ve done something wrong.”
Oh, Harry. Wonderfully stupid Harry.
“Well, I’m sure you haven’t!” Ginny chirped.
“Hopefully not.” Harry grinned bashfully. “Listen, Ginny…”
“I’m sorry, Harry,” she cut him off, “I’ve got class too. I’ve got runes, I’m so behind… I can’t imagine why I took runes.” Vaguely, she realized she was rambling, and stopped.
“Oh. Well, I’ve got a free period – but I’ll see you, yeah?”
“Of course,” Ginny said, feeling something warm spread down to her toes. “Bye, Harry.”
“Bye, Ginny.”
Later, sat in the runes classroom, taking notes so furiously her hand cramped, she wondered why she hadn’t stayed and listened. Skived off class with Harry. Talked about Cho’s volatility, her huffiness, how Harry had to walk on eggshells around her.
I always feel like I’ve done something wrong. She smiled smugly to herself.