fic. shatter. hermione/ginny

[marginalia]

title: shatter
archive: .: marginalia :.
fandom: harry potter
pairing: hermione/ginny
notes: for the two lines challenge. i don't own 'em, please don't sue. thanks to dorrie6 & starfishchick for the beta, the love, & putting up with my general angst. any remaining errors are due to me being dumb & stubborn.



In the end it was a tiny thing that undid Ginny. Hermione would have thought it funny, or ironic, or odd at least, that is, if she had let herself think at all. That after all Ginny had gone through, three words would tear her apart.

But she didn't allow herself to think about much of anything outside of the war, and there they both were strong indeed, firm behind McGonagall, supporting, not shadowing.

.:.

In the beginning, it was slow as these things generally are. They spent evenings in the Muggle coffee shop below their rooms, passing as students out of habit, poring over books by the fire, pretending that it was just another bit of homework and not the making or undoing of the world.

The nights were cold and too-empty beds were islands in the inky black of the rooms. Hermione asked Ginny or Ginny asked Hermione or no one asked anyone and it just happened that they fell between the same sheets one night last night some night.

But it happened somehow. And Hermione still had nightmares, the ones Ginny used to hear from her room, but now Ginny quieted her before the noises, so unHermione-like, disturbed the others. She rubbed her back and hummed lullabies that she knew best in Bill's young voice, floating above her cradle when their mother was drained by the havoc of the twins.

.:.

The first time Hermione kissed her, Ginny held her breath, the lullaby sticking in her throat. Hermione kissed her, feather-light, her face hidden in shadow. Kissed her and turned away.

Ginny lay awake, Hermione's hot tears drying on her lips, and wondered who Hermione had tasted.

.:.

News from the war, both magic and Muggle, became more unstable. Hermione folded up her pain and fear and filed it away, but it slipped out and escaped into the dark.

In her dreams, she watched Ron fall.

She wouldn't let herself think about that.

.:.

Most nights, once Hermione was quiet, Ginny slipped from the bed and curled up in the armchair.

Ginny tucked her hands up into the opposite sleeves of Ron's old sweater and touched the rough patchwork at the elbows. Hermione's work, strong on the inside, virtually invisible on the outside, and Ginny pulled it tight around her. Binding. An embrace.

She watched Hermione sleep and guarded against the dreams.

.:.

It was inevitable, the night the kisses became more, desperate heat and need. I don't know what I'm doing, Ginny whispered against Hermione's neck, slipped her hand up Hermione's thigh, sliding up and pressing hesitantly against damp cotton. Here, Hermione tugged nightgowns free, guided Ginny's hand, closed her eyes when their breasts brushed together.

Hermione ground down on Ginny's fingers, forced the rhythm, made the sweetest little sounds. But she never said Ginny's name.

.:.

After, Ginny got up and made tea. A ridiculous exercise, but it gave her distance. She wore only Ron's sweater. She ran her fingers through her hair in a half-hearted attempt to comb it. She turned to Hermione, tried to form the question.

I don't know, Hermione admitted. I don't know.

Ginny shattered.

Comments

[berriest-eri.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Just. Ooh. Yeah.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

*dance*

[mellyflori.livejournal.com]

oh. holy. crap.

*bibbles slightly*

I never thought I'd enjoy reading this pairing. I stand (bibblingly) corrected. Wow.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

hey! a katchoo icon!

*beam* thank you! really, i don't know where this came from. i think this writing-but-not-reading hpfic thing might be a good move, though :)

[dacro.livejournal.com]

you're so great at these bittersweet stories. I fell in love with both of your girls, and how much they missed Ron! *shatter*
I really loved this part, and kept reading it over:

Ginny tucked her hands up into the opposite sleeves of Ron's old sweater and touched the rough patchwork at the elbows. Hermione's work, strong on the inside, virtually invisible on the outside, and Ginny pulled it tight around her. Binding. An embrace.

wow
~J~

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

i am just full of angst *dramatic sigh*

i must admit i was really fond of that bit, too :)

[thepsychicclam.livejournal.com]

oh my. ginny/hermione is such a wonderful pairing that you don't see much good fic of. this was so heartbreaking and beautifully written. just, yes. great job.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

i don't read very much hp fic in general - just the recs that come across my friends list - so i had no idea how this fit in with this pairing in general. so, thank you!

[goovie.livejournal.com]

omg, hermione/ginny is my new otp. wtflolbbqdvnwfuv.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

liekomgsqueeeee!!!!!!!!ONE111!!!

:)

[cellardoor13.livejournal.com]

i want to frame this and put it on my wall.
more ginny/hermoine! pleasepleaseplease!

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

more? this one was the death of me! ;)

[murmbeetle.livejournal.com]

i made "judy garland" stick in someone's head besides mine :)

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

for real. and it cracks me up, when you post with a lyric as the subject and then you -claim- that the current music is something entirely different. but i -know- it's really the earworm ;)

[donnagirl.livejournal.com]

beautiful!

excellent title, too. am earwormed.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

eee! thank you! :)

[willysunny.livejournal.com]

oh holy... i don't even know what. i'm so boy-slashy lately that i forgot how much i like this pairing. and your writing... it's unbelievable. thank you for sharing. it was a truly beautiful read.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

*beam* thank you!

feel the femmeslash love! i mean. erm. hi :)

[hullabaloo.livejournal.com]

goosebumps, shivers, and you brought tears to my eyes.
loved it.
want more.
that is all.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

yaaaay! thank you, m'dear :D

[beccasketch.livejournal.com]

OK...so...I'm not really so much of a fanfic girl but, as sometimes happens, I was intrigued by a rec (from dorrie6 in this case) and, uh...yeah. Wow. Excellent work.

I may have to rethink my firm stance on the no-one's-good-enough-for-Ginny issue.
:)

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

hermione is going to have to deal with some issues and figure out who she really wants before she's good enough for ginny ;)

(i have great ginny love m'self)

yay! thank you :)

[birds-sing.livejournal.com]

Ohh...I liked it! Sweet and sad...just the way I like things.

Nice, very nice.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thank you!

[fignae.livejournal.com]

Your style is awesome. I may have to add you now. Don't mind me. 8)

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thank you and welcome! i'm a fandom slut, so, be warned ;)

[sifelaver.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, an impressionistic sex scene. I love impressionistic sex scenes.

Very lyrical, very pretty, and um...tactile, if that makes sense. But I don't get the ending. I'm prolly just being dumb. Explain?

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

oh dear! i missed this comment. thank you!

and i was thinking of it as hermione still being confused about who she wants. she doesn't know if she's still wanting ron or if she wants ginny. ginny (as one might expect) would like some more certainty.

[leather-wings.livejournal.com]

I don't review well, but this is wonderful. All of it was wonderful, especially the last two bits. Poor Ginny.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thank you :) it's enough for me to know people liked it :)

Wow...

[nani.livejournal.com]

I usually don't read femslash since there's really not that much of it, and a lot of what's there really isn't all that fantastic. Thus, I'm happy to let you know, that this fic is a major excpetion. It's one of the most elegant and beautiful things I've ever read. So much is said in so few words and that's a talent that few people have. This is a treasure!

Re: Wow...

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thanks! there really isn't that much - it's kind of a "well, if i want it i'm going to have to write it myself" situation :)

[losselen.livejournal.com]

Am I allowed to fall in love with you?

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

well, i guess there's a first time for everything :)

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

*weeps* for Ginny and Hermione both.

Excellently written.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thank you :)

[wordsaremyfaith.livejournal.com]

Wow. What can I say? I have only recently begun reading slash and this is the first Harry Potter story I've read. If any others are as good as yours, then I've been missing a lot.
Just, wow. There are no words.

Re:

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thank you! i actually only read a very little harry potter, but if you're looking for the good stuff i'd check out hp_for_lotrips. it's a community dorrie6 and i made to help us navigate the big scary world of the hp fandom :)

[celeloriel.livejournal.com]

This is so delicately beautiful. I'm a big fan.

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

thank you so much!

[scaryemilie.livejournal.com]

dude! did i not comment on this the first time round? i suck. and what's more, i'm pretty damn sure i bookmarked this one.

(then again, i have a shitload of your stuff bookmarked, because i am a scary famngirl omg.)

but anyway. you make me love hr/g. *is converted*

<3

[marginalia.livejournal.com]

omg *is afeared* hee!

thank you!