#stan ginny

[schmem14]

Hello friends! Recently, I participated in the fourth HP Rare Pair fest, and with 81 unique and beautiful entries it was a veritable FEAST for the eyes and heart and soul. (Check out the whole collection here)

I wanted to take a moment to post highlights of the fics that just really brought me to my knees in hopes that you’ll fangirl/boy/person over them with me!

1. Evergreen by @thecouchsofa (23k)- Harry Potter x George Weasley What would happen if Harry asked George to go to the Yule Ball with him instead of Parvati? This GOF Yule Ball AU is sure to slay you with sheer adorableness. I couldn’t stop smiling and squealing through the whole thing. This rare pair is one of my favorites, and this fic went above and beyond, plus it’s the perfect holiday read! Rating: T

2. Lonely Creatures by @apricitydays-lazynights (5k)- Severus Snape x Giant Squid The prompt to put these two together could easily have been pure hentai crack nonsense (which is a brilliant option) but this story did things to me that I can’t even put into words. It’s tender, melancholy, and cuts to the heart of Severus Snape’s isolation and longing to be seen and loved. The details of this are so richly woven, and I particularly enjoyed the authors’ focus on Mermlish/Merfolk. Standing ovation to this fic! Rating: E

3. Slice of Night by SquibNation10 (9k)- Aurora Sinistra x Severus Snape This was the fic that took me the most by surprise. I love the creativity in taking a character who gets very few canon details and making them real and beautiful and believable. Auror Sinistra is divine in this, and I’ll give some honorable mentions to both Argus Filch and Rolanda Hooch as excellent supporting characters that also don’t typcially get a lot of spotlight. What a gorgeous slice of life fic! Rating: T

3. Quick Quotes and Quibbles by RainstormRadish (3k)- Luna Lovegood x Rita Skeeter Rita and Luna have to work together to cover the wedding of Neville Longbottom and Pansy Parkinson. There’s just something about a story told in unconventional medium that will always ALWAYS pull me in! This unlikely pairing comes together in the sweetest way, their strong personalities balancing each other out until they become a formidable team.  I particularly loved the graphics and paper trail memos/epistolary style storytelling. Rating: T

4. Your seat, it’s the best seat by @the-houseryn (17k)- Ron Weasley x Draco Malfoy MOVE OVER only one bed, there’s a new trope in town and it’s the ONLY ONE SEAT trope!! This was sexy, flirtatous, and hot AF. I’m always down for a Dron fic, but this one is one of the best I’ve read in a while, with some delicious pining and a predictably oblivious Ron. Do yourself a favor and indulge in the lap-sitting fic of the year! Rating: E

5. Vivaldi and Hot Chocolate by @patriceavril (6k)- Percy Weasley x Stan Shunpike What was Percy up to in OTP/HBP? What a lonely life that must have been! This fic was soft and sweet, giving some much-needed love to a character that we all wrote off in canon for being a stuck-up prick. I love how Percy seeks out the warmth and comfort of the Knight Bus, coming back for more because of the kind-hearted and bubbly Stan Shunpike, who always insists on giving Percy free hot chocolate. I never expected to be so enamoured by this pairing, but I am! Rating: T

6. The monster you feed by @ghostfelicis188 (11k)- Regulus Black x Remus Lupin This canon-compliant fic tore me to shreds. TO SHREDS. Like, I am such a simp for tragic Remus romances, and this took the cake. Features: pining artist Remus, and shit-eating cruel Regulus who toys with Remus the whole damn fic. If you like hurt no comfort, this is the fic for you. *Chefs Kiss* Rating: M

7. Gilded Web by @emilyrickman AlihotsyTotsy (8k)- George Weasley x Blaise Zabini I cannot believe that this understated fic packed such a punch in 8,000 words. George agrees to an undercover operation to investigate the mysterious deaths of Mrs. Zabini’s deceased husbands. He is so pure in this, his characterization charming and believable, I just need more of this George! Bonus points for references to “the Sting” Rating: M

8. Sleeping with Ghosts by @ghaniblue (21k)- Harry Potter x Regulus Black x Draco Malfoy My initial thoughts when encountering this relationship tag was something akin to a bewildered head scratch but OMG the best thing about this fest is having expectations completely upended! This fic slayed hard with a slow burn, found family, semi-sentient house renovation angle that had me completely melted by the end. Rating: M

9. The Last Trial of Peter Petegrew by @sleepstxtic (20 k)- Peter Petegrew x James Potter If possible, I’d like to ram this fic down the throats of all my mutuals with a plea to PLEASE READ THIS FIC. I can’t begin to describe in a tiny paragraph what this did to me. Often Peter Petegrew is relegated to the traitor bus in fandom (understandable) but this took every mean and traitorous part of his character and made me almost like him despite his treachery! The format of this was also a delight to read, and I love that Hermione presents the case for Peter Petegrew in this meta purgatory-style courtroom drama. Rating: M

10. Anatomy of a memory by @venom0usbarbie (9k)- Ginny Weasley x Tom Riddle This story was pure poetry wrapped in a sinister diary-shaped package. I love the self-fulfilling prophecy nature of this time loop style storyline, as well as the toxic obsession and manipulation played out between Ginny and Tom. What a mindfuck ending that was, too! Kudos to the “Tom Riddle is his own Warning” tag. Rating: M

11. Sweet Boy by @maraudersaffair (6k)- Narcissa Black Malfoy x Harry Potter A not-quite-fake dating fic with lots of smut, thirst, and mommy/praise kink? Yes, please! I was literally panting by the end of this, Harry and Narcissa are so hot together! Rating: E

12. Growing Suspicion by nocturn (1.8k)- Neville Longbottom x Marcus Flint Someone keeps mutilating Neville’s plants, and he’s going to get to the bottom of it OR that time Marcus expresses feelings but doesn’t understand proper plant care. This fic was A-DOR-ABLE. Love me a good Hogwarts professors/staff fic, and this was just a bite-sized delight to read. Rating: G

13. For Your Burning Gaze by SquibNation10 (22k)- Neville Longbottom x Pansy Parkinson The fic that I most want to see a sequel for award goes to… this Twilight Zone post-war marriage law fic complete with creepy house elves and a very troubled Pansy, who seems to be the only one realizing that something is not quite right! This is one of the best Panville fics I’ve read, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Rating: E

Thanks to @hprarepairfest for putting on another amazing fest!

[saintsenara]

happy birthday ginny, here's a fic with you and both of your dark-haired orphan simps.

Nerve

When she was five, Auntie Muriel had given her as a birthday present a small china figurine of a cow.

And, since she was five, and all she wanted to do was ride brooms and fall out of trees and throw gnomes at Percy, she had laughed derisively the second she opened the gift and called it ‘a bit rubbish’.

Mum had been furious, and the telling-off Ginny had received - as Muriel stormed out of the house with her nose in the air, ‘Weasley children are ungrateful whelps, the lot of them’ ringing around the Burrow - had managed to impress upon her an important lesson: no matter how shit a present is, pretend you like it.

---

- and Percy got a brand new owl when he was made a prefect, and that happened the day before I turned ten, but I didn’t get anything new that day, it was all second hand. Except my Auntie Muriel gave me a box of drawing pins. But who wants a thing like that?

That sounds ghastly.

It was! Obviously I wasn’t rude. I just -

I know it sounds really silly, but I just want my own things. I want to be special. I want everyone to notice me. Nobody notices me.

That doesn’t sound silly at all.

You’re sweet :) 

---

The lesson had held for ten years. It was fracturing today, as she turned fifteen and unwrapped Fleur’s gift to her - presented with a beatific, ‘I ‘ope you will like ‘ow it stops you being so - ‘ow you say - disorganised’ - and saw the embossed scarlet leather cover, her initials on it in gold, of an extremely beautiful and obviously stupendously expensive diary.

‘Oh,’ said Ginny.

Fleur seemed happy enough with that, leaning into Bill’s arm - wrapped around her shoulders - with a contented (read: smug) look on her face. Harry and Ron were both shovelling birthday cake into their mouths, but Hermione was looking at her with the sort of stricken, wobbly expression which made Ginny nervous.

‘Cheers. It’s great,’ she said to Fleur, in an effort to communicate to Hermione that she needed to keep fucking quiet and not bring up my previous diary-related fuck-ups at the dinner table. Fortunately she got the hint, although Ginny knew there’d be plenty of whispered nagging about whether she’d ‘properly dealt with everything’ later.

But she couldn’t help staring at Bill, as if to say, ‘thanks for not spilling my most embarrassing secret during your pillow talk’ and ‘hey, you know how there’s a war on? Maybe you should tell your fiancée that your sister was fucking possessed by You-Know-Who for a full year, so she knows exactly what sort of mess she’s getting into.’

He just looked at his cake instead.

---

- and I told mum I didn’t want a victoria sponge cake. But she made one anyway, because it’s dad’s favourite. But it was my birthday. I wanted a chocolate cake.

Does that make me sound really spoiled?

It does, doesn’t it?

What kind of birthday cakes did you have, when you were my age?

I have never had a birthday cake.

WHAT?

How???

I was born in an orphanage. That’s a Muggle institution for children whose parents are dead. There was hardly enough to go around normally. Birthdays were out of the question.  

Oh.

I’m sorry.

I survived.

Harry’s an orphan as well.

Is he indeed?

---

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Hermione later, bustling around Ginny’s room brandishing a hairbrush like a wand. ‘The nerve of her! She had no right to do something like that.’

‘She didn’t know.’

‘But Bill should have told her.’

‘Yeah. Maybe.’

Hermione sat on the end of Ginny’s bed and looked at her earnestly. ‘You can say if you’re upset, you know.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘I mean, I’ve never thought you’ve ever properly dealt with everything, and I -’

‘I said it’s fine, Hermione. For fuck’s sake, give it a rest.’

---

Hermione was still in a mood the following morning.

The diary sat on Ginny’s bedside table, the cover shimmering softly at her.

‘I suppose the colour was meant to be nice - Gryffindor, you know - but it’s just ended up being another cruelty,’ sniffed Hermione, when she’d decided she was no longer angry with Ginny and she ought to have another go at nagging her about her life.

‘What d’you mean?’ said Ginny, round a mouthful of chocolate frog.

Hermione looked at her as if she was as dumb as Goyle. (Ginny could see why quite a few people didn’t like her). ‘Well, it’s like his eyes. Isn’t it?’

She looked so convinced she was onto something that Ginny didn’t have the heart to tell her that her him had eyes the same polished tortoiseshell brown as Hermione’s own.

---

I could make him a valentine’s card, couldn’t I?

You could.

I could say he has nice eyes. He does have nice eyes.

So you’ve said.

They’re very green. I could say that. ‘You have very green eyes.’

That’s not very romantic, is it?

I could say, ‘you have eyes so green they’re like…’

I dunno.

A fresh pickled toad.

Or an emerald.

Pick the emerald.

I like the toad.

Pick the emerald.

They aren’t emerald green, though. They’re fresh pickled toad green.

I just think -

I’m going to say that his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad.

Or do you think he’d hate that? 

I think you should say his eyes are like emeralds.

He will hate it, won’t he?

Would it matter if he did?

YES.

Picture me rolling my eyes.

Tom. I’d DIE.

Imagine if he laughed at it. 

And if he didn’t?

That isn’t possible.

Ginny.

Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.

---

She dropped a blob of ink onto the page and waited for the inevitable.

She realised she had been staring at it for hours when mum called her down for dinner.

---

She could never have explained to the other three why nothing happening was as much of a disappointment as a relief.

They were bound together so tightly you’d have thought they were one-and-the-same. It didn’t seem to occur to them that their friendship was abnormal. Or, maybe, that hers were. That, maybe, it isn’t normal for a fifteen-year-old to not see her boyfriend all summer, or not to have friends visit, or not to Floo off for house-parties and trips to Diagon Alley. That, maybe, her position in a clique of ‘popular’ girls was tenuous, something light and meaningless and easily discarded.

That, maybe, the best friend she’d ever had was a piece of disembodied soul which had very nearly succeeded in killing her.

---

I don’t think anyone understands me like you.

You’re my best friend in the whole world :) 

I’m delighted to hear that. The feeling is mutual.

Now. I need you to do me a favour.

Anything :)

You will walk down to the gamekeeper’s hut.

I will walk down to the gamekeeper’s hut.

---

‘I don’t think Harry will get back together with Cho,’ said Hermione one evening.

Ginny snorted. ‘Yeah, obviously. He fucked that right up.’

‘Dean’s nice.’

Ginny tried to ignore the jittery feeling in her stomach. ‘Yeah. Yeah, he’s brill.’

Fortunately Hermione was already yawning into her pillow. ‘Did you have a nice birthday, by the way?’

‘Yeah.’

There was a brightly-coloured bang from outside.

Hermione jumped up, brandishing her wand. ‘What on earth was that?’

---

I wish I was with mum and dad for Christmas. On New Year’s Eve we always have hot chocolate and watch the fireworks from the village. You can see them really well from our garden.

I spent all evening crying. And now I can’t sleep. 

Are you awake?

Is it New Year’s Eve today?

Yes.

Ah.

It doesn’t feel very festive though.

Go to the North Tower, and - just before the Divination classroom - you will see a painting of three house elves wearing a trench coat. Poke the middle one on the nose and the painting will swing open to reveal a window. Climb through the window and you will find yourself on a flat bit of roof, with an uninterrupted view towards Hogsmeade. At midnight, there will be fireworks to celebrate the new year. 

But there will be nobody else around, and they will feel as though they are for you.

---

‘Relax, Hermione. It’s just someone letting off fireworks.’

‘God. I thought it was the Dark Mark or something. Honestly, who lets off fireworks in the middle of August?’

‘You never know. Maybe they’re for me.’

[snixx]

i fucking love ginny miller idc what anyone says <3

[lepoltergeist]

Too many people single out Ginny and Molly for being shitty towards Fleur in HBP, but then in the same breath defend Hermione as if she didn't do anything wrong. When in reality, Hermione was also shitty to Fleur.

And not only that, in canon, Ginny and Molly didn't like Fleur because she was rude and disrespectful. While Hermione was the one that didn't like Fleur because of jealousy.

If you are going to criticize Gin and Molly for being shitty towards Fleur, you should also criticize Hermione and Fleur herself.

Hermione stans really have a distorted view of canon.

[corneliaavenue-ao3]

Found

Written for @hinnymicrofic Day 15! 448 words

Cold, bitter cold gusted through his jacket. Warming charms and Hermione's jar of fire did nothing to warm him. The woods were unforgiveable in December. The only light was coming from the tent behind him and the light from his wand.

Harry was on hour 5 of his night watch. He was also on hour 5 of watching Ginny's name on the Marauder's Map. She had been sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room with Seamus and Neville for the first hour before retiring to bed.

He let his thoughts wander to much warmer, sunit days as Ginny went to bed. Hoping warmer memories could insulate him from the inside out. Selfishly hoping that she was dreaming of them too.

Soft footsteps alerted him that Hermione was exiting the tent, ready to switch watch. Quickly, he stuffed the Marauder's Map away, hoping to save himself the embarrassment of being caught staring at the shape of the name of his ex-girlfriend.

He kept his gaze forward at the woods as Hermione sat down next to him.

"You miss her." It wasn't a question. It was just Hermione stating a fact, just like she would state Gamp's Laws of Transfiguration as fact.

He grunted in response.

"I found something when I was looking for my toiletries. I forgot that I had packed it," Hermione said, passing over a shampoo bottle in her hand.

Harry almost laughed at the thought he smelled so bad that Hermione was offering him soap until he looked closer at the label. His breath hitched in his throat as he slowly unscrewed the cap.

His senses became overwhelmed with the familiar flowery scent of Ginny. He was immediately brought back to the sunlit days by the lake, practices on the quidditch field, and late night forbidden adventures in broom closets when everything was so simple and so innocent. He was lost in those memories as Hermione rambled on next to him.

"Ginny made a passing comment when she was trying to think of a birthday gift for you that she should give you her shampoo so you could always be reminded of her. And I thought it was a great idea so I packed it and-"

Hermione's rant was cut off by Harry pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you," Harry said, barely above a whisper.

Hermione pulled away, smiling for the first time since Ron's disappearance. "Go get some rest," she commanded. "I'll take over watch from here."

Harry stood, brushing snow off of his pant leg, and grabbed the map and the shampoo.

"If you're planning on being a teenage boy in there, please remember to cast a silencing charm!" Hermione shouted back at him.

[four2andnew]

April Prompt #5: Hate for @hinnymicrofic (We're going full Muggle/Uni AU for this one, also CW: f-bombs)

"Do you hate me?"

"What? No, why would you ask?"

"Dancing lessons, Ron! Fucking dancing lessons?"

"Oh quit your whining. If anyone gets to whine about dancing lessons it's me."

"You're the one who wanted to get married, you fuck. Why should I have to be dragged into this?"

"'Cause you're my best man and you fucked my sister."

Harry spluttered, his tea spraying all over the table and Ron.

"How do you know about that?"

"Harry, my sister doesn't love me that much, she wouldn't just 'pop over for brekkie' when her dorm is on the opposite side of campus if she hadn't already spent the night."

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair, refusing to make eye contact with his flatmate. It wasn't that he was ashamed, Ginny made him ridiculously happy. He'd just never really had a girlfriend before, and certainly not one who was the sister of his best mate. He really had no clue how the whole announcing one's relationship went down. Especially one that just felt like a natural transition from hanging out together while they waited for Ron to studying together without Ron to going out for dinner and drinks just for the hell of it to dinner and drinks that now included mind blowing sex.

"Look, I don't need the details, obviously, but uh...just know if you fuck it up with her, I'll be obligated to cut you out of all my wedding photos. And I don't know if Hermione will ever forgive me for that."

"Is this your weird twisted way of telling me you're fine with the two of us, er, together?"

"You're both a lot less grumpy these days, so yeah."

The tips of Ron's ears were red, but he gave Harry a little smirk. Harry returned the smile before they both looked away, sipping their tea and eating their eggs in silence. Ron finished eating and stood to rinse his plate.

"Just, please for the love of God, don't let me hear anything."

"Well considering you haven't heard us for the last four months, I think you're fine on that front."

The plate crashed in the sink and Ron's voice was abnormally high when he turned around, eyes bulging and face pale.

"FOUR MONTHS?!?"

[garlicbreadish]

i will forever hate people that don't like lily/ginny just cause of a mlm ship that's way more popular.

[mauveberries]

i would ship harry with a cardboard cut-out before i'd ever ship him with ginny

[takeariskao3]

The funniest thing in dh is when Ron gives Harry a book about how to charm witches. The same guy who was dating his little sister weeks before 😭

BRO I DON'T EVEN KNOW WTF RON WAS ABOUT HERE BUT YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT

[tomjamesavery]

Christmas preparations at the Potter's Written for the Ginnyversary Bingo Challenge with the prompt: #N35 — I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there. Read on: AO3

“Gin! They’ll be here any minute now!” Ginny heard Harry’s voice from downstairs as she was finishing packing up the last present. It was Christmas and soon the entire extended Weasley clan would show up at their doorstep. Ginny and Harry had been extremely busy over the last week, with both work and preparation for a hungry mob of red-haired family members, but they had decided to celebrate together this year, and Ginny was happy to see her family come together again.

She bound the last knot and quickly scribbled “Merry Christmas! Love, Ginny and Harry.” Onto the note that was attached to it, before she quickly put it where the rest of the presents were already lying, ready to be given out. With a spring in her step, she made her way downstairs into the kitchen where Harry was busy cooking up a storm. She stopped in the doorway observing her sweating Husband who was way too concentrated on his current task to notice her staring. “And, how is dinner coming along?” Ginny called out, a bit louder than necessary, as she watched in amusement how Harry almost dropped the pan he was handling. “Goodness Gin!-” he quickly put down the cooking equipment and leaned his back against the kitchen top. “-You almost gave me a heart attack.” He used the back of his right hand to brush the sweat off his forehand. Ginny only chuckled as she closed the distance and chastely pecked him on the lips. “I am sorry, I forgot how concentrated you get when you’re in the kitchen.” She brushed a loose strand of messy black hair out of his eyes as his hands came up her waist pulling her towards him. She was about to lean in for another deeper kiss when they were interrupted by a high-pitched voice coming from the living room.

“Mommy, Daddy! Jamie said Aunt Muriel would be coming too, is that true?”

Ginny sighed rolling her eyes as she watched her husband’s grin forming. She spun around and faced her second oldest son, who was looking at them with annoyance on his face.

“Al, I told you, Aunt Muriel will be there, it is just one evening, she’ll be gone by tomorrow!” Ginny tried but her son didn’t seem to care much how long Aunt Muriel would stay with them, the fact alone that she showed up, was enough for him.

“I don’t want her to come, she is not nice. I don’t like her. If she comes, I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I am not there.” He crossed his little arms in front of his chest and before Ginny or Harry could say anything else he stormed out of the room. Ginny meant to go after him, but Harry quickly took her hand. “Let me talk to him Gin, you already had to convince Jamie earlier that we couldn’t set the Christmas tree on fire to grill marshmallows on it after dinner, and that discussion alone must’ve been enough for a week.” Ginny only shot him a thankful smile before he quickly followed after Albus. She ogled his bum until he disappeared through the doorway, just as a knock sounded on the front door. It seemed like the evening had officially started.

[greenhousethree]

Gin and Nev... A friendship forged in fire

Wow thank you so much, I appreciate it! And I love this question! Apologies for the late response… I’ll get better at these 🫠

But oh boy, life at Hogwarts during book 7… I love it; it’s such a rich, chewy era for resilience, relationships, and coming-of-age. And I’ve really enjoyed creating snapshots of different characters’ perspectives (I have a couple more in the works for that series); they’ve really helped shape my ideas for arcs after the war. 

Neville and Ginny, though!! Two of my absolute favorite characters. The books don’t give us much to go on, but my headcanon has always taken the potential for their friendship and run a bit wild. I think these months at Hogwarts would have solidified it: running the D.A., caring for younger students, and pissing off the Carrows. 

(This turned into a full-on ramble, so here we go…)

I don’t think Neville and Ginny were particularly close before this year. Friends, for sure, but I think Ginny would have seen him primarily as her brother’s dorm-mate, even after the Yule Ball. She had her own friends (and boyfriend) to occupy her during D.A. meetings in OoTP, and we’re told that that Neville and Luna were the ones who bonded after the Department of Mysteries. 

Throughout Deathly Hallows, though, Neville’s no longer a peripheral friend of Ginny’s, but a comrade on a battlefield that’s been otherwise abandoned. Two Gryffindors, both with more skin in the game than most, both with nothing to lose by fighting. I think that pressure would give them both a harder edge than their peers; even Luna, who joins to form that melt-your-heart trio of misfits, has to worry about her father’s safety as a consequence of her actions. But Neville’s parents were Aurors and Ginny’s family make up most of the Order— they both come from fighters. 

Like Harry and Hermione (another gorgeous friendship that reduces me to a puddle), I think Ginny and Neville’s relationship is a thing with legs of its own, independent from the trio’s dynamic. Their characters balance one another beautifully, based on everything we’re given in the text. I put a glimpse of this into “Defiance,” which takes place in October of that year. And as the months passed, they would have only grown closer, trusted each other more, and developed sharper instincts for one another out of survival.

There’s an incredible amount of grit behind the strength we do get to see from Ginny in canon. Girl has seen a lot by this year, and I think she’d be the one to spearhead the revolution within the walls. But, and this is more of my HC here, she’s headstrong and impulsive... like an unbroken filly, I think she’d need someone else to take aim after the abandonment by Harry and her family makes her desperate and reckless. In a war of strategic mayhem, I see Neville acting the playmaker to Ginny’s agent of chaos, directing her desire for resistance into action. I’ve never had a doubt that she’s the one to hatch the idea of stealing the sword, but he’s the one pulling out the drawing board immediately after “Defiance.” He’d feel the most guilt after the fallout of their plans, too, surrounding the events of “Surrender.”

And, as the Carrows continue to do their damnedest to break her, I think Ginny gradually relies on Neville more to be the ballast of their ship. It’s a role that I think Harry will take over a bit, eventually: encouraging her to harness her fire as she picks up the pieces of her Hogwarts years.

And Neville! If ever there was a better fictional character to steal my heart. By the end of book 7, we see a completely transformed version of the nervous little sweetie who’d lost his toad on the train. I don’t remember where the idea came from to have him growing herbal remedies and passing them off as homework, but I sort of fell in love with it. This boy’s using Mandrakes as weapons up until the very end; surely he spent the entire term risking his behind to visit the greenhouses and follow his passion (and without a handy invisibility cloak, too… take that, Potter).

Neville’s always looked up to Harry, drawing inspiration from seeing him speak up against Umbridge and Snape. We get glimpses of his burgeoning voice in OoTP and HBP, fighting alongside Harry in the Department of Mysteries and defending Hogwarts after Dumbledore’s death. But we don’t see Fully Evolved Neville— D.A. leader, confident battle strategist, “I’ll join you when hell freezes over” Neville— until he’s spent more time with Ginny (DH, ch. 36). I’m sure her sharp tongue and rogue fearlessness have rubbed off on him by the time she’s whisked off to Muriel’s, and it’s something he carries with him (along with Luna’s desire for justice) in that final month facing the Carrows without them.

After the war, I have no doubt that Neville and Ginny remain close. Similarly to her dynamic with Harry, there’s an opposites-attract element to their relationship: with her encouraging spontaneity and exploration and him bringing more grounded levels of insight and empathy. I think the trio with Luna remains intact, but, like the Golden three, morphs a bit into three individual friendships with their own strengths to offer. Ginny’s seen enough of Harry’s struggles to help Neville navigate his new war heroism in a world where he’ll become more popular than he ever imagined (she definitely becomes the world’s best wingwoman at many a pub). The three of them all lose a great deal, too— particularly Ginny, with the death of her brother. I won’t go into detail because I have a lot drafted up for these two… but I think her relationship with Neville, welded and galvanized by a year of growth and suffering and hope, will be instrumental to her journey of regaining her voice. 

Lots of words, lots of thoughts, but I hope that addressed the question! Thanks again for reaching out, it means a lot! 🌱

[whinlatter]

🍈 For the ask game!

🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions.

Yes I had to look up what a blorbo is to answer this, no I’m still not sure if this is right but… if it’s what I think it is, it’s got to be love of my life Ginny. She’s a character I’ve only ever loved more and more as I’ve gotten older. I just love who she is, and I really appreciate what animates her as a character, her motivations and her sense of herself. I love that she’s a laugh. I love that she has her own arc, but also has - and nurtures - these deep, ferociously loving bonds with so many of the series’ best characters. I love that she’s been through the absolute ringer and still comes out swinging. I love that she has these really compelling shades of grey: she kicks off, she gets absolutely livid when she needs to, she’s sneaky af and a startlingly good liar; and she absolutely has the capacity to be a little dickhead when she wants to be. She’s got real heart and huge depth.

I could do Gin headcanons for days but here are just a few:

- She’s outdoorsy, both in a real South West England/Devonshire, sunny summer orchard girl kind of way, but also a Scottish Highlands, hard winds, rainy day, muddy boots traipsing around Hogwarts grounds kind of way. Her love of animals and Quidditch is all bound up in this love of being out in the world. She feels very drawn to the Hogwarts Grounds and to the Forest, like generations of Weasleys before her. Also every WIP I have had her wearing a big fleece nicked borrowed from her dad or a brother because everyone knows cool girls wear big old fleeces, I don’t make the rules

- She’s intensely private. We know Ginny is popular. But I think of her public persona - outgoing, funny, sporty, warm, attractive - not quite as a front, per se, but a persona she knows is only half of who she really is. For all her popularity, she’s canonically quite guarded, in ways that allows her and Harry to relate to one another. I think of her as extremely unwilling to trust other people with her intimate thoughts and feelings. She’s very good at supporting her peers and classmates, but her own guardedness makes deep and meaningful reciprocal friendship with peers more difficult. After all, her family are in the Order: she couldn’t share lots of her wartime experiences with classmates in any real detail.

- I think during the war, under the Carrows, was the most isolating and lonely period of her life, bar her experience with the diary. She wouldn’t feel willing or able to share her feelings with her family or other Order members, nor with Neville and Luna - for all their experiences in common, neither Neville nor Luna had a capacity to meet her where she was at that year. I think her experiences with the diary, her fears about her own weakness and guilt over past failures, would mean she would try everything she could to train her brain actively to resist intrusion, either through torture, the Imperius Curse, or Occlumency.

- In the post-war years, her and Harry both take a lot of trips to the sea. For Harry, there’s comfort in the memory of that time in the spring of 1998 at Shell Cottage and the existential comfort he drew from staring at the sea in that final period of the war. For Ginny, it’s the memory of trips to the sea in Devon as a family when she was little, days out that they could never really do later during the war when trying to keep Harry safe at the Burrow during his stays. Whenever I imagine their most difficult conversations after the war, I like to think of them doing them by the sea, where they can look out at the tides and listen to the sounds of the sea while they struggle to find their words (and then they get fish and chips afterwards, to take the edge off).

(ask me anything!)

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Given your history with the forbidden ship, what are your thoughts on krumione?

It took me a second to decipher the reference. Anon, you can say the name. Hayley isn’t a dirty word 🤣 just a questionable ship. Which is more or less the case for my man Victor Krum. The fandom is somewhat divided here. There are those who praise him as an underrated gentleman, and those who shame him as a creep who targets underage girls. 

Honestly, both sides are exaggerating. 

Krum wasn’t some unsung hero. He was a lonely, awkward guy with fame, but no friends. He was repeatedly described as being surly. He had feelings for Hermione, indicating that he appreciated her intelligence (and probably how different she was from his typical fan-girls) but so what? Just because Hermione didn’t get a lot of attention from boys, it doesn’t make Krum noble for having noticed her. 

Krum is a guy who was, I think, deeply affected by attending a school like Durmstrang. It didn’t turn him into a dark wizard or a bigot (likely because of the personal losses his family suffered at the hands of the Grindelwald regime) but it does seem to have affected his social skills in a negative capacity, and becoming a celebrity certainly didn’t help. Nor did becoming a Quidditch player. I’ve talked about this before but Quidditch players tend to be obsessive and throw everything else away, including basic morality, just so they can win. The Wronski Feint may be cool when you’re a kid reading the book for the first time, but in adulthood, it really hits me just how screwed up that actually was. He basically tried to kill the other Seeker. It’s not his fault that such a move is considered acceptable, but he didn’t have to use it. 

In general, I think fame hampered Krum’s ability to make friends, and rendered him unable to trust that people weren’t just trying to cozy up to him because he was famous. Unfortunately, this includes people like Ron, he’s a perfect example. Krum was a socially awkward, grumpy young man who probably did want to make friends and find love, but he had no clue how to do this, especially not in a school full of strangers in another country. (It’s no wonder he invited Hermione to come visit him.) Hell, we don’t know why he made the journey to Hogwarts in the first place. Was it his decision? Did he even want to enter the Triwizard Tournament? Or was he pressured into it by Karkaroff? 

I should elaborate on my feelings a bit more. I am by no means condemning Viktor Krum, because he may be strange and socially awkward, but that’s not a crime. Questionable Seeker plays notwithstanding, Krum doesn’t really do anything wrong during the story. It’s not his fault, for instance, that Karkaroff shamelessly favorited him, or that Crouch Jr used him as a puppet. If anything, his aggressive reaction to a perceived Grindelwald supporter is a mark in his favor. Krum is the sort of guy who has punched Nazis and gladly would again. Can’t really fault him for that. 

But what about the erumpent in the room, what about his interest in Hermione? 

Well, like I said, I don’t believe he ever does anything out of line. Is it creepy? I think that depends on the context. Is the age gap a little suspect? I mean, yeah, it is. But it’s hardly impossible for a guy Krum’s age to date a girl Hermione’s age without being a predator. To pretend otherwise is silly. That leaves the question - is Krum written to be a predator? The answer is no. I hardly think asking a girl to attend a chaperoned dance is predatory behavior. It’s implied that they dated a while afterward, that Hermione (probably) kissed him. But hey, if they hit it off at The Yule Ball, why can’t they see where that goes? Hermione being Krum’s Hostage in the Second Task is…weird, I’ll admit. Particularly since the judges were willing and able to procure family members from outside the country. But then again, is it not equally weird for Cedric’s Hostage to be Cho? They hadn’t been dating that long. Frankly, I think this just proves how lonely Krum is. 

I’ve seen posts that say he “isolated” and “threatened” Harry when he saw him as a romantic rival. Which seems like a major reach. All he did was ask for an explanation. There was no indication that he meant harm. And when Harry clarified, Krum changed his tune and acted more friendly. Again, he and Hermione were basically dating at this point. It’s not unreasonable for Krum to be angry if he thought Hermione was cheating on him. Overall, he should have confronted her instead of Harry, but that’s a different issue. My point being, it was not predatory behavior. No more than his being irritated that Hermione wasn't paying attention to him after the Second Task. He was already insecure about Harry, and he was the one who had "saved" Hermione, of course he wanted to be the center of attention in that moment.

Was it creepy for Krum to invite Hermione to visit him in Bulgaria? I’ve seen that sentiment expressed, that he was trying to “isolate her” (there’s that word again) in a country where he would be the only person she knew, and that this was a red flag. I’d just call it an inevitable reality. One can assume Krum would want to introduce her to his family and such. But until then, yeah, she wouldn’t know anyone else from there. So? Furthermore, there’s no indication that her parents weren’t invited too. Either way, Hermione would need their consent and there’s no doubt Krum knew she would. Like, we have no evidence that he was trying to do this behind their backs. In general, Harry himself regularly stayed with the Weasleys during school breaks, for weeks at a time. This could simply be a traditional aspect of wizarding culture. Something that happens all the time. Not some grand evil plan. In any case, Hermione rejected the offer to visit Bulgaria (or her parents said no, we can’t be sure) and I think we can safely assume that Krum took this with grace, as he and Hermione remain pen pals after the fact and are on good terms.

I’ve made this point before when defending Hayley, but I dislike how people express distaste for Krumione by describing it as an “adult man” pursuing a “15 year old girl.” Because referring to Krum as such in this context and ignoring that he’s only 18 himself just obscures the situation. It makes it sound a lot worse than it actually is, and it almost seems like people are doing this on purpose. Krum may be an adult in this case and Hermione may be a child, but that doesn't mean they're all that far apart. Again, Cedric and Cho also get together after the Yule Ball, and by Wizard standards, Cedric was an adult too. We're still dealing with a romance between two teenagers. Yes, an 18 year old is more mature than a 15 year old. But 18 year olds are still pretty damn stupid. I know. I’ve been there. 

But what about the time that Krum, as a 21 year old man, was eyeing up Ginny, a 16 year old girl? That alone kills any defense he might have, right? It creates a pattern and removes the benefit of the doubt from the equation…right? Well, it would, except that Krum doesn’t actually know her age, how could he isn’t actually interested in Ginny. He doesn’t check her out until after Harry describes Ron and Hermione as a couple. Up until that point, he had eyes only for her. It seems like pretty clear subtext. Krum just wants to find a pretty girl to dance with and make Hermione jealous. Which is immature. But again, acting immature is not the same thing as acting predatory. He backs off when Harry tells him that Ginny has a boyfriend, I think we can assume he would likewise have backed off if Harry had told him "She's 16, dude."

Altogether, Hermione was Krum’s first love. He seems to have idealized their relationship and never really gotten over her. While this probably isn’t the healthiest situation for him, I still wouldn’t call him a creep. Krum respects Hermione’s boundaries and her autonomy. he is never shown pushing her into anything she doesn’t want, and Hermione doesn’t appear to be the least bit negatively affected by his residual feelings for her. She just carries on with her life. She shoots him down, and while he doesn’t exactly move on, he also doesn’t make it her problem. The worst you can say about Krum is that he's maybe a little pathetic. But I don't see any red flags here, at least not of that sort.

[meggoreads]

You mean to tell me Ginny Weasley grows up in a house with 7 older brothers and DOESN’T turn out to be gay? Like sis are you not tired of men already?

[startanewdream]

Do you think that Bonnie Wright was a good choice to play Ginny? Like, do you think she could've been the book Ginny that we love if only the script and direction had been better?

Yes!

Think about that "Think you are in love, Ron" tease in GoF, that subtle jealousy glance when Hermione mentions "Cho couldn’t keep her eyes off Harry", that DEFINITELY glance back when Harry stays behind to kiss Cho in OotP, even that "Shut it!" in HBP (though Movie Harry is just wrong in that scene, sigh) and definitely the "I know" after their kiss in DH...

There were many issues with Movie Ginny, but Bonnie was not one of them.

[superspookyjanelle]

FRIENDSHIP AESTHETIC: Ruby Rocks & Ginny Granger & Jet Rocks

Ruby: How do you do that?

Ginny : I'm fearless.

Jet: I saw you run from bees yesterday. You flailed around and tripped over a chair. It was both hysterical and sad.

Ginny : I'm mostly fearless.

TAGGING: @witchofinterest @fiercefray @sweetenemyfire @eddysocs @nikolai-lantsv @arrthurpendragon @waterloou @villanele @bookstorebunny @roseygirl203 @valdrinors