As Time Goes By

Chapter 6

Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny sat in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, a bowl of cereal slowly becoming soggy in front of her as she watched the entrance. She was looking out for Malfoy, trying to catch him as he came in for breakfast so she could apologize to him. There was no way that she could leave things as they were. She knew she had screwed up last night, and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to fix things with just an "I'm sorry". She figured that is was going to take a lot of work to get him just to look at her, but she had to try.

She'd seen his expression. She'd seen the frustration he felt when she told him about Harry. That part wasn't hard to understand, especially after what Harry did. What was hard to understand was the pain she had seen flash across his face before he'd shut down and closed his emotions off from her. He looked like he was . . . she didn't know, but heartbroken came close.

It was weird, thinking that. And the one word held so much weight, she partly wished she hadn't thought of it. But that's what she'd seen, and she couldn't figure out why . . . Although, maybe it was just that she was afraid to find out.

It didn't really matter either way actually, whether she made sense of it, or was afraid or not. She'd made up her mind regardless as soon as he slipped away from her and walked out of the door. As soon as the emotion drained out of his voice and his expression. As soon as those stupid words left her mouth.

Telling him that he was exactly the same as the person who'd hurt her hadn't quite been her finest moment, and she'd regretted saying it the second the words had crossed her lips. She'd actually planned to apologize the next day, once her pride had decided to settle down a bit. But it was the hurt in his voice and the way he'd called her out so bluntly that made her see just how far she had gone. Almost all of her being despised herself for saying that to him. She only wished she, Hermione, Harry, Ron and the rest of them hadn't managed to leave the time turners in a never ending loop of falling during their fifth year.

Hermione glanced at Ginny and looked down at her cereal. "Ginny, you have to eat something." She said.

Ginny looked down at her food and her lips tightened. "I'm not hungry." She mumbled to her. Hermione looked at her sympathetically.

"I know you're nervous about the potions test, but you need the nutrients so you can think better." She told her friend. When Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and looked away, Hermione sighed and grabbed a granola bar. "At the very least eat this. It's better than not eating anything at all." She kept her hand held out until Ginny finally gave in and took it from her.

She wasn't hungry. The very thought of eating made her want to hurl, but Hermione didn't let her off the hook until she took a couple bites, finishing it off as Harry and Ron sat at the table across from them.

Harry glanced over at Ginny and clenched his jaw while she gazed at him warily, then he sat down and let out a deep breath before he relaxed. "Hi Ginny." He said, his voice still somewhat tense even though he was trying to sound casual.

Hermione's fingers froze while rifling through her schoolbag - probably looking for a book to read before going off to her Alchemy class - and her brown eyes stared icily at Harry. She looked over at the youngest of the Weasleys and received a very slight shake of the head, causing her to clench her jaw herself and narrow her eyes at him, lips closing shut.

Ginny should have known this was going to happen, how Hermione would feel. It was her fault for not telling her everything like she used to. Hermione didn't know that she had talked to Harry and they had resolved to try again. Of course, her friend might have reacted the same way Malfoy had. It wouldn't be surprising. But she had to reduce some of the tension somehow, she knew how this could go, and she didn't want this turning into a show for everyone at breakfast. "Hey Harry, what's up?" Ginny asked cautiously, turning back to him.