A.N.: Hi, I'm Vivian. This is (obviously) my first fanfic. Please review, feedback is important to me.
Mental Problems, Literally
Ginny Weasley was feeling absolutely miserable. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still off on their quest for who -knows-what, and she was stuck with her parents at Great Aunt Muriel's place. What a torture. Hogwarts wasn't safe, Luna was gone, and she was still anxious for news. Every day, she scoured the Prophet, hoping for some shred of information. After all, Voldemort would be sure to let the entire Wizarding World know if Harry had died.
The last news she had gotten was from Bill. He had informed the rest of the Weasleys that the Golden Trio had appeared at his door, with a dead Dobby, the [free] house-elf, a broken Mr. Ollivander, a still odd Luna Lovegood, her fellow Gryffindor Dean Thomas, and Griphook the goblin. Hermione, he said, had looked like she had been tortured. Harry and Ron had come off a little better. But they had refused to tell Bill and Fleur anything, and had left as soon as everyone was in good condition. Ginny was outraged that she had missed seeing the trio. Still, she waited patiently for any sign of news.
Harry Potter should have been feeling at least slightly okay. He, and his three best friends, had done the impossible. Hermione had posed as Bellatrix Lestrange, and successfully led all of them to the Lestrange vault. He and Ron had stolen a horcrux from the vault. But, the truth was, he wasn't feeling okay. Thoughts of the daunting task ahead invaded his mind during the day. Voldemort's thoughts invaded his mind during the night. So he sat all night, fiddling with the Cup.
Hermione Granger was worried. She had signed up for this, but she hadn't expected it to be so bad. She had gotten tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, impersonated Bellatrix Lestrange to get into Gringotts, and they were now back to square 1. At one point in time, they had had the sword, but no horcrux. Now, they had a horcrux, but no sword. She didn't dare suggest Fiendfyre. It was simply too dangerous. No, they would just have to wait. She, Harry, and Ron were quite disturbed by the things they had seen, and the task that lay ahead of them. Harry, she knew, would fight to the death. But what about Ron? He had left them once; he could do it again at any time.
The thought of her parents weighed her heart down. What if she didn't survive this? Her parents would never know. They didn't remember they had a daughter, after all. Still, it was for the better. She could never bear it if they had been tortured or killed by death eaters. So she turned to her books for comfort, as she had done many times in the past.
Ron Weasley was very uncomfortable. Harry had been happy to see him, and had accepted him back without a word. Hermione, though, still seemed to have her reservations about him. It was as though she expected him to leave, again. He was genuinely sorry for leaving. The horcrux had affected his mind, and he had simply left. The whole Gringotts break- in had scared him, just as it had scared Harry and Hermione. Who knew where else that nutter Voldemort had hidden the other horcruxes? Harry suspected it at Hogwarts. But Hogwarts was now untouchable. The death eaters and Snape had control of Hogwarts. Snape, who was equivalent to ten death eaters, Snape, who had caused so much grief to his family by attacking George, Snape, who had killed Albus Dumbledore.
Ron got very little sleep these days. Hermione had told him, in his fifth year, that he had the emotional range of a teaspoon. Now, however, he had what he imagined to be the emotional range of a tea pot. He often thought about his family. What he wouldn't give to spend just a week with his family. Now he didn't even know whether or not he would ever see them again. Ron had only one comfort, food, now even that had been snatched from him.