Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to Harry Potter there would probably be lots of confusing stuff in small print after this. There isn't.

A/N: Laura, I'm updating just for you.

Chapter Four: Hermione's visit

"Ginny?"

Ginny heard the familiar voice calling her name, and heard Hermione walking up the stairs. They had always agreed to just enter the others house… both houses were so large that it was a pain to answer the doorbell.

Ginny jumped up, and scurried into the bathroom, slipping a little on the green, cream and gold tiles in her stocking feet. She looked, horrified, into the mirror. Her eyes were puffy, her face was blotchy, there was a large pink patch on her cheek from where it had been pressed into her knee, and her unruly hair was everywhere.

"Como conscribo," she muttered, and instantly the makeover charm worked its wonders. The puffiness and blotchiness vanished, her hair immediately settled into a knot at the nape of her neck, her make-up re-applied itself…

She was standing in the doorway of her room when Hermione entered the hall. She took one look at Ginny, at the fresh appearance and cheery smile, and shook her head.

"Oh Gin," she whispered. She walked forward, and pulled Ginny into her arms, as they both began to cry. Hermione led Ginny to the couch, and they collapsed on it.

"Oh Mya…" sobbed Ginny.

Hermione ignored her least favorite nickname, and stroked Ginny's fiery hair, letting her own tears fall into it.

The two sat like that for sometime, crying steadily.

Finally, Ginny sat up straight. They both smiled sadly at each other.

"Would you like some tea?" asked Ginny quietly.

"I'd love it," answered Hermione, "Just one thing…"

They both looked at each other and murmured, "Como conscribo," before getting off the couch and walking downstairs.

They were both settled in the kitchen with mugs of dark amber tea, and Ginny was beginning to feel more relaxed, when the scene reminded her of the past. It had been a gloomy day, rain pounding the windows, when…

"Ginny?" Hermione had called, entering the large house. Alexia had come walking out of the living room.

"Mum's in her room, Hermione," she had said, "She got this letter a couple hours ago, and she's locked herself in there… can you get her out? I heard her crying. What's happened? Is it Dad?"

Hermione had frozen, not wanting to be the one to tell Alexia. She hadn't answered, just hurried up the marble staircase, and knocked on Ginny's door.

"Go away, Lex! Go play with Logan!"

Hermione had pushed the door open…

"Oh, Gin..." Ginny had turned to Hermione, and fell to a fresh wave of sobbing.

The two women had held each other and cried. Cried and cried, letting the grief pour out of them in salty tears.

Finally, Ginny had offered Hermione some tea, and they had gone down to the kitchen, Ginny still clutching the letter.

There, with mugs of tea in front of them, Hermione had begun to talk.

"I was with him, Gin. We were investigating that forest, the one we suspected might have been Voldemort's hiding place during the war. We got there, and the evil around the place was so intense that every time you breathed in, you felt like you're stomach was eating itself away. I think I must have fainted, from the pure evilness of it, because I woke up that night, in the camp Harry had made, a good distance from the forest.

"He was sitting by the fire, just staring. He was white—so white! It scared me. I told him we should leave; that place was so dangerous… but he refused. He said that all his life, Voldemort had been hanging over him, even when he was a kid, and never heard of him. He said by destroying Voldemort's headquarters, he would be ridding the world entirely of the man once called Tom Riddle, and in doing so, freeing himself.

"I didn't think it was a good idea to go into the forest, but Harry insisted. We cast the tutaminis charm over ourselves for more protection, but I still felt woozy and sick as we got closer. The evilness was so scary, Gin. I felt as though if I tried to breathe, I would breathe it in, and it would claw away at my insides. If I'd known that it really was, and if I'd known that Harry hadn't actually cast the tutaminis charm on himself, but instead on me for extra protection, I wouldn't have let him lead me into the forest.

"We got to Voldemort's headquarters, and oh, Ginny. The evil in the air. I nearly fainted again. I can't begin to explain the awfulness of it. All around us, the trees whispered tales of death, and the wind grabbed our cloaks, as to pull us away into the trees.

"The headquarters were hidden very well, but Harry didn't take long in revealing them. One moment we were standing in front of an ordinary tree, the next this massive building… more like a castle stood in its place.

"We went inside. Words couldn't describe how awful it was. I barely stood the evil, even with two tutaminis charms on me… I can't begin to think how Harry managed it on his own.

"I think we must have been near where Voldemort had stayed, or something, because Harry collapsed.

" "Her…mione…tell…tell… Ginny..." he said, and then… he died. I couldn't do anything… I didn't even know what was happening. I sent his body back… and then apparated home… Oh Gin…

"He lived a life with great purpose…and he died doing what he knew he had to do…Oh, Ginny…"

The two women had broken down again, holding each other until the tea was long cold.

"Gin, I saw you leaving the station, and you looked unhappy. You've got to get some purpose back in your life. Not having Lexi 'round will make you feel more and more useless. You need to get out and do something."

Ginny sighed sadly.

"I know. But everything I do, everywhere I go… I see him there… I need to get out of this house."

"Come stay with me, Ginny. Viktor's on another tour, and I have my house all alone, except of course, for Sunshine."

Sunshine was Hermione's youngest. At six, she was already beautiful, but no one knew where she got her beauty. She had blond hair (her namesake) and nice skin, and was already showing signs of Hermione's wisdom.

Ginny nodded. "Yes. That's a good idea."

Hermione smiled, "Great. And we can do all sorts of fun things… take Sunshine shopping, have parties, make treacle tart and surprise Ron…"

Ginny laughed weakly, and they hurried upstairs to pack.

A/N: OK, it is late, so I need to rot my brains with computer games.