Chapter 10: moving on…or not

Ginny practically beat down the door of Hermione's house to see her; Hermione just didn't answer the door. It had been 4 days since the fiasco at St Mungo's and she hadn't come to see any of them. When Ginny burst into the sitting room she was taken aback by what she saw. She had expected to see Hermione asleep on the sofa in her dressing gown, having cried herself to sleep, surrounded by used tissues. Instead what she saw was this.

The muggle TV was on, an advert was playing, claiming that everyone should buy blinds for their conservatory; Hermione was dressed in jeans, thick socks and a grey woollen sweater. She was sat on the sofa, her feet up, staring blankly at the screen. Ginny looked at her face, her hair was tousled and she looked pale, fragile and drained, her eyes were dry but she obviously hadn't bothered to take any care of herself. She looked as though she hadn't slept in ages she looked as though she had just given up. She barely seemed to notice that Ginny was there. It was just plain disconcerting to see Hermione like this, it was just wrong.

"Oh Hermione" Ginny sighed "You can't sit around here like this"

"I really liked him Ginny" Hermione whispered, her eyes not moving from the screen

"I know" Ginny sighed, hugging her "But you've got to move on, he seemed nice but he was an idiot, there are plenty of better men out there." Secretly she didn't dislike Cedric, he and Hermione had seemed so completely perfect for each other. She didn't believe that he liked Cho anymore either, he had probably just been a little overwhelmed by her, and he quite probably just hadn't realized what was blatantly obvious; she just had to show him how completely blind he had been. Then she had an idea "Hermione, you know the best way to move on is to relive everything and then just let it go"

With some gentle persuasion Hermione turned the TV off and pulled her pensieve out of the cupboard. She placed it on the table in front of them; unbeknownst to her Ginny had hidden several small jars (which she had craftily stolen and shrunk from Hermione's recycling bin) under the table that she planned to subtly capture all of Hermione's memories in, and even a few of her own.

Hermione sat down and closed her eyes, Ginny turned to watch the pensive with the same fascination that most muggles watch the TV. Memory after memory rose out of the pensieve, all rising and expanding, replaying a mini-version of the memory. They were only brief snatches and Ginny hadn't even known that some of them existed; one of them went all the way back to Hermione's first year, when it had finished playing each memory appeared to fade. What had really happened was that, when Ginny sensed that it may be drawing to a close, she raised her wand slightly (it was hidden up her sleeve) and dragged each memory into a vial which she quickly sealed.

She had been so wrapped up in doing this that she hadn't seen Hermione's face. Silent tears poured from her eyes and she trembled. Ginny bottled the last memory and turned

"There" she said "all done and now- oh Hermione, I'm so sorry" she had almost reached Hermione to give her a hug when the twins burst in, quickly followed by Harry, Ron and Padma. And then there was a flurry of movement, all of them tried to hug her at once. Then they all tried to decide on different jobs. Padma bustled around the flat, having set Amy down on a playmat on the floor, Ron shuffled awkwardly off to the kitchen, mumbling about making a 'cup of tea' and Ginny briefed both the twins and Harry in turn about her plan as she slipped a few memories of her own into vial. Harry left to owl Oliver Wood and Cedric, asking Cedric to make sure that he was at the ministry ball.

Fred hugged her tightly and she cried into his shoulder, dry choking sobs that shook her entire body. George rubbed her back soothingly. At one point Harry mentioned being able to move on but she shook her head violently and croaked that she thought she loved Cedric.

Ron re-emerged from the kitchen holding a steaming mug of tea which Hermione took hiccoughing. "Thank you" she said sniffing slightly "You've all been so" – sniff- "nice to me" – gulp – "what have I done" – sob – "to deserve such amazing" – hiccough - "friends?"

"You've been Hermione Granger" grinned Harry

"And that's more than enough" said Padma, Hermione blinked and burst into tears again.

"Hermione?" asked Ron, touching her shoulder; everyone drew in a breath- Ron wasn't known for his sensitivity "Would it cheer you up if you looked after Amy for a bit?" Hermione blinked again and then laughed, everyone let out the breath they had been holding.

Hermione spent most of the afternoon making a fuss of Amy who loved all the attention while Ginny watched her worriedly, when Amy had fallen asleep Ginny approached her cautiously. She still felt guilty for not noticing Hermione's tears earlier.

"Hermione?" her voice was hesitant

"Yes?"

"Are you still going to the ministry ball the week after next?"

"I'm not sure, I mean, Cedric and…and…and her will be there…I'm not sure if I can stand seeing them together"

"But it will be the perfect opportunity to show him what he's missing and to show her just why he chose you in the first place"

They avoided using Cho's name as though it was some kind of curse, partly because it made her seem less human and partly because Hermione felt a bit sick every time she thought of the two of them together.

"I can't just show up on my own"

"Well, we'll all go, as a big group of friends. And we'll get Ernie MacMillan to come as your date. You can just go as friends"

"Look, why bother? He's got her now; I'm of no interest anymore"

"Hermione" Ginny huffed "where's your fighting spirit gone? You will go to that dance and you will look jaw-droppingly gorgeous. You will not give up and you will win back from that devious cow what should be yours anyway!"

Hermione did just what she said.