Ginny gently pushed the door open with her elbow, careful not to bang Hermione's legs on the door frame. A cozy room greeted her and Ginny immediately felt comfortable and right at home. The room was small enough to be cozy without being suffocating. The windows across from the door looked out onto the coastline, giant waves crashing against the cliffs. A fireplace stood to the right of the room, and as Ginny strode across the room put Hermione on the bed in the far left corner, she noticed that the fireplace opened into the next room, therefore heating both rooms at a time.
"No, Gin, I should change or something first," Hermione said. "I've been in my pajamas all day and I feel rather disgusting."
"Do you want to take a bath or something?" Ginny asked. "You can. Merlin knows I can keep myself busy with a book in this house," she continued, marveling at the oak bookcases that lined the bedroom's walls floor to ceiling.
"No, I'll just change," the brunette said, getting up from the bed and opening a rounded door in the middle of the wall across from the fireplace that looked as though it had been cut right into the bookcases around it. Ginny hadn't noticed the door at all until Hermione had disappeared behind it. The younger girl guessed that it was a walk-in closet.
As she waited for Hermione, Ginny paced about the room, inspecting everything from the thick drapery hanging on either side of the gigantic window to the intricate designs carved into the stone around the fireplace. Without wondering what was taking Hermione so long, Ginny took a random book off of the mantle and plunked herself down in the armchair that sat comfortably close to the fire to read.
After perusing the first pages of the newest edition of A History of Magic, Ginny muttered, "Rose would love it here."
Hermione, who had just exited her closet heard Ginny's comment but approached her friend as though she hadn't. "Thanks for waiting, Gin." Ginny jumped in her seat, startled by the other witch's approach.
"No problem," Ginny said, recovering with a smile. "If you don't mind, I'll go change in the bathroom, which is..." Ginny trailed off, waiting for Hermione to complete her sentence.
"Just there," Hermione said, pointing to the room on the other side of the fireplace. Ginny nodded and exited the bedroom, turning the corner to find herself in a bathroom with another picture window looking out on the coast, a giant claw footed bathtub sitting in front of it, casting an eerie shadow on the floor in the moon- and fire-light. The redhead pulled a small bag from the inside of her boot, sticking the edge of her wand inside of it and drawing it out again. Now attached to the tip was a pair of red pajama pants with snowflakes on them and a white tank top.
After the Golden Trio had returned from the Horcrux hunt and everyone had settled down a bit after the war, Hermione had shared many of her packing secrets with Ginny. Not one to forget useful magic tips, Ginny took it to heart. Now she never left the house without the little pouch tied to her ankle, containing everything she'd need if there was ever an emergency.
Ginny used the bathroom and changed clothes at a leisurely pace. As she pulled on the last leg of her pajama pants, an owl flew into the window and Ginny screeched in surprised and hopped around on one leg trying not to fall. She regained her balance, pulled her pants on the rest of the way, and opened the window, letting the owl in. The crazed creature went straight for the bathroom door, ramming into it before Ginny could get it open. The second the door was open, the owl flew out, landing on top of one of the posts of the bed and dropping a letter onto Hermione's head in the process. Ginny followed on its talons.
"What in the name-"
"Thank you, Twinkleberry," Hermione said, giving the owl a pat on the head. It ruffled its feathers and settled further onto the post, blinking its wide yellow eyes at Ginny.
"Twinkleberry?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, this is Luna's owl," Hermione said absentmindedly as she opened the letter. "She named it after a squirrel in a muggle children's book that I gave her as a gift for her birthday a few months ago." Once the envelope was opened, Luna's dreamy voice floated out of it.
"Hermione? I'm going out of town for a while and I was wondering if you could watch 'Berry. He's so very lonely and I don't want to leave him out all week with no one to return to. He started attacking my dirigible plum tree the other day because he couldn't make it through the window..." her voice trailed off lazily before it was heard again. "I'm sure he'll get along with Crookshanks. Just let him out every once in a while. He'll know when to come home. Neville dropped by while I was writing this and he sends his love, as do I. If I don't speak to you before then, Happy Christmas, Hermione." The parchment that Luna's letter was written on folded itself up before returning itself to the envelope it came in and floating onto the mahogany desk next to the bed. The room was silent for a few moments as Hermione stared out the window and Ginny eyed the sleepy owl nervously.
"Well, that was unexpected," Ginny said.
"Not really. Luna's not really going out of town," Hermione said. Ginny quirked her eyebrows at her friend's statement. "She pities me, Luna does," the brunette said, her gaze drifting from the window to her hands in her lap. "She's all alone herself most of the time and she knows what it's like. She doesn't want to bother me by coming – I think she knows that it's a bit upsetting – so she sends her owl to keep me company from time to time."
"How do you know-" Ginny started, a perplexed expression tweaking her facial features slightly.
"I just know, Ginny." Hermione spoke slowly and deliberately, almost as if she was building a wall with her words. "It's something the two of us share, you know? Not many people understand loneliness the way we do." She paused, looking into the fire and then back out the window. "People stay away from Luna. They think she's a little crazy. And you know how she gets...but she's not as crazy as people think. Her brain just delves a little deeper than books. Something that I chanced to do once upon a time." Ginny said nothing, waiting for Hermione to continue. The older witch sighed and got up to throw another log on the fire. "It's good of her to lie to me about it though. It helps, even though I know that she's lying. I do the same for her on occasion." The brunette straightened from her place by the fire and walked back to the bed. "Don't I, 'Berry?" Hermione addressed the owl, patting its head gently. It ruffled its feathers and rubbed its head against her hand. "Are you ready for bed, Gin?" she asked after a few moments of nothing but the sound of the owl's contented hooting.
"I need to wind down a bit, 'Mione," Ginny said, knowing that she needed some time to think. "Perhaps I'll read until the fire dies down a bit."
"Okay. Goodnight, Ginevra," the brunette said, getting into bed and turning on her side facing away from Ginny and the warmth of the fire.
"Goodnight, Hermione," Ginny whispered after a moment. The redhead moved to the armchair by the fire and picked up the book she had been looking through earlier. She leafed through it, skimming the pages, giving the nearly-sleeping brunette the illusion that she was absorbed in the book and not her own thoughts. The younger girl's thoughts plagued her, however. She thought about what Hermione had said of Luna. Ginny and Harry still kept in touch with their eccentric friend, but Ginny supposed that Luna was more lonely than she let on in her letters. Plants weren't the best companions, no matter how much you loved them. Ginny knew that Luna kept busy writing articles for The Quibbler and taking care of her ever-growing gardens, but she had never paused to think that Luna was really alone in her work.
Ginny couldn't imagine living a life without people bustling around her and bombarding her with questions constantly. Since she grew up with six brothers, and then had three children of her own as well as a nephew and niece that lived with her and Harry whenever they weren't at school, Ginny had always been accustomed to people. But Hermione had lost the person she had loved the most – and it was so hard for her to love anyone. Even back then, the brunette's trust was built in facts, not in feelings. Now that her one solid link to love had been severed, Ginny couldn't imagine Hermione trying to love someone ever again. With startling clarity, Ginny suddenly realized that that is why Hermione had given her children over to herself and Harry – the witch was too afraid of losing the only people she had left that she loved, and so she distanced herself from them. From everyone.
Ginny looked over at the brunette who was now sleeping soundly on the bed. She was curled up in a ball, still facing away from Ginny. The redhead couldn't help but think that this was now a habit of the elder witch's – to shut out everything that she might harm. Ginny closed the book in her hand and stood up, replacing it on the mantle. She stretched her back slightly before walking over to the bed and getting in opposite of Hermione. The sleeping woman shifted slightly, her eyebrows furrowing in her sleep.
"Ron?" Ginny heard Hermione mutter. The redhead's heart nearly shattered right then and there. After deliberating for only a moment, the younger girl responded in a gruff imitation of her brother's voice.
"Yeah, it's me." Hermione's facial expression relaxed almost immediately. The still sleeping brunette reached out towards Ginny. Careful not to wake her, Ginny tentatively wrapped her arms around Hermione, knowing that this was probably the only favor she could grant her friend at the moment. A tiny reminder. A bit of comfort. That was all.
Aw, this chapter made me cry. I like it though. Everyone needs a good cry now and then.