What's Best For Her

A Sister's Words

"Hermione, you cannot be serious about this," Ginny Weasley exclaimed in a hushed voice. The redheaded girl couldn't believe the words coming out of her best friend's, and practically sister's, mouth. "It's a good offer, I'm not denying that, but we're here. Harry's here." Ginny tried to get her sister to see reason.

"And that's why I need to go," a mournful Hermione replied, a wistful smile on her face. "I know if I stay here, I wouldn't be able to live like this any longer." The featherlight snowflakes of the winter morning landed softly on Hermione's air as she gazed out into the vast expanse of land beyond Hogwarts.

"Is this about Harry?" Ginny shook her head even as Hermione paid her no mind. Her friends were idiots in love, content to pine for each other forever. "Hermione, for Merlin's sake, why can't you just tell him how you feel?"

The bushy haired girl looked resignedly into the land and said nothing for a short while. In truth, she had considered that idea for what seemed like hundreds of times but each resolution to tell him was promptly dismissed by that traitorous voice in the back of her mind that told her he would never feel that way about her. She hated to admit it, but the proof of that notion seemed insurmountable.

"He's never given me any indication that he feels something outside of brotherly love for me. I can't just go up to him and say that I've been in love with him since I fixed his glasses on that train. I can't just ruin our friendship like that."

"Hermione, this is Harry we're talking about. You know, Harry?" Ginny questioned sardonically, taking a pause to go and stand in front of Hermione. "The green eyed seeker who's consistently inconsistent at expressing his feelings. You remember Harry? The guy who wouldn't know how to tell someone he loved them because of the way he grew up? He's the same Harry who's so oblivious to the things around him unless they're actively trying to hurt him."

The redhead noticed as the older girl considered her for a moment and hoped that she would see the reason within her words. It was not to be, however, as the girl shook her head at her. Ginny sighed frustratedly and continued delivering her message. "I know you two well enough to know that nothing can come between you two. I know he loves you just as much as you love him. He's...just terrible at expressing himself and, honestly, I thought you knew this."

Still, Hermione didn't believe her. Ginny continued, however, not wanting to have her big sister leave their world with the biggest 'what if' of them all. She would kill anyone who found out, but the fiery girl knew she was a sucker for love stories. A true hopeless romantic, she called herself. Even she knew nothing could compare to the love story of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and it felt sinful to have it end with neither of them being able to confess their feelings.

"Do you really want to leave this place without telling him how you feel? Don't you want the chance, just the chance however small you think it may be, to have him tell you that he loves you too? And don't you think he's owed the truth of your feelings for him?" Ginny continued to press on, feeling like she was a barrister fighting the case of her life.

She could see the resolve in Hermione buckling and knew she just needed one more passionate message in order to make the brown eyed girl give in to her. Ginny was close, so tantalizingly close, to being perhaps the most crucial part of a love story so epic that it could only happen in real life. If someone asked her, she would name that as her greatest accomplishment.

"Look, I know telling him you love him is a risk that could either bring you the worst of all pains or the best of all pleasures, but not telling him at all would kill you, Hermione," Ginny placed her hands lightly on the older girl's shoulders, "and it won't be quick either. It would come on so slowly that you wouldn't even notice. You'd always wonder about what if you told him and then you'd believe that it'll pass, but it won't. Soon, so much time will pass and he wouldn't have left your mind even for a day. Eventually, you'd see him again only to find out he never stopped loving you but moved on anyway because you left."

That did it, the redhead knew. She hated that her words reduced Hermione to tears but it was necessary. There was something about the pain her words caused that made it beautiful. Yes, the fact that Hermione was in so much anguish at the mere thought of Harry moving on from her was sublime in nature. It spoke to the depth of love she had for the man.

"Tell him, Hermione," Ginny pleaded as a lone tear streaked down the girl's face. She wiped it away quickly and continued speaking, "don't spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been."

"When did you become such a hopeless romantic?" A suddenly emotional Hermione quipped.

"Always was, but if you tell anyone I will bat-bogey you."

The girls shared a laugh together before Hermione surprised Ginny by pulling her into one of her signature bear hugs. To the redhead, these types of hugs were usually reserved for Harry so she must have done something truly wonderful for Hermione to pull her into one. She felt her heart soar at the thought.

"I always wanted a sister and I'm thankful I got you."

At that, Ginny buried her head into her surrogate older sister's chest and let the girl hug her for all she was worth. Growing up in a family full of boys was no easy task and she was eternally grateful to Merlin and the fates for having sent her Hermione.

The snowfall over the grounds became much more intense and the girls found themselves standing in a land of pure white. It was a gorgeous sight for both of them and they were content to stay outside for a bit longer. Ginny decided to get back down to business, however, knowing that she needed to see her mission through to the end.

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up next weekend, Hermione," Ginny pulled her head back to look up at the girl, "that would be as good a time as any. Write him to meet up with you and tell him everything."

"Okay."

While Hermione chose to return to Hogwarts to finish her schooling and graduate, Harry decided not to. Ginny wryly thought it would have made her job a lot easier if he were there with them but there was no glory in completing an easy task.

"You write to him everyday right?" She questioned Hermione as a sudden thought hit her in the head.

At the girl's nod of affirmation, Ginny clicked her tongue at her and shook her head with a smile. "Can't you see that he's mad for you? Just as much as you're mad for him?" She rhetorically asked, holding up a hand to silence the girl. "You two write each other everyday for Merlin's sake. Come on, Hermione."

Hermione had the decency to blush at the statement. They hadn't gone a single day without writing to each other and it warmed her heart that he was committed to making sure she heard from him everyday. She deigned to hope that it meant he loved her as more than just a sister. She dared to believe that he saw her as more than his bossy swot of a sibling, that he saw her as a woman worthy of being loved by him.

"Oh, and before you start worrying about what to wear or do to yourself before you meet him, just dress like you always do. Be yourself, Hermione. That's the woman he fell in love with. She's who he loves beyond anything."

Surprised at the fact that Ginny read her overactive mind like a book, Hermione shook her head at the girl's antics but laughed nonetheless. Oddly enough, despite the fact that she was committed to the daunting task of telling Harry her feelings, she felt happy and her heart felt weightless for the first time in a long time.