Vomit and Vengeance
2 hours later…
Mrs. Weasley held Hermione's hair back as she vomited into the toilet.
On the other side of the bathroom door, Harry, Ginny and Ron were frantically discussing
what they could do for Hermione.
"All I know for sure is there's no way you guys are leaving tomorrow, not now," Ginny
said. "You boys like to think that you're tough, but she's always taken care of you- both
of you. It's time for people to return the favour."
"How do we make this better for her?" Ron asked. "I don't know what to say or do."
"We just need to be there for her," Harry said.
At that moment Hermione and Mrs. Weasley came out of the bathroom.
Hermione's eyes were puffy, but she was no longer crying. She turned to Harry and Ron,
saying, "We need to talk. I'll meet you in your room in a few minutes."
She then turned to Ginny and asked her for some help with unzipping her dress.
They walked back into their room, and Hermione came out moments later, dressed in her
pyjamas.
She went over to the room Harry and Ron were sharing and walked right in.
"I just wanted to remind the both of you to pack a bag of things you think you'll need so
we'll be ready to leave bright and early tomorrow morning."
"We're going to hold off on leaving for awhile, Hermione. You need to take some time
for yourself right now," Ron said gently.
"What I need right now is to go find Horcruxes and destroy them. I want to find
Voldemort, Crabbe, and Goyle, and make them pay. I want them dead. I'm going to take
Crabbe and Goyle down, and I'm going to help kill Voldemort."
Harry and Ron didn't know what to say; Hermione had snapped. She wanted revenge;
wanted blood.
"Hermione you need to give this a few days. You need to clear your head. Maybe me and
Ron should just go. We'll take care of Crabbe and Goyle for you," Harry said.
"I can't give this a few days. I need to do something before I go crazy. My parents are
gone. They were the only blood family I had. There are no other Grangers out there. I'm
the only one left… Don't you two DARE think about leaving without me because I will
never forgive you if you do. I don't need you to take care of me, I just need you with me.
You're my only family now, and I will not let you leave me behind."
Hermione was crying, but tried to wipe away her falling tears.
"It's okay 'Mione," Ron said, hugging her.
She let herself cry for about a minute, and then pulled away from Ron.
"Thanks," she said quickly. She turned to Harry and put her hand on his arm. "Thank you
for trying to look out for me. It really does mean a lot to me, but I need us to leave
tomorrow. I need to do something. I want to destroy Voldemort and his Death Eaters."
Hermione turned around and went to the door. "Goodnight boys."
Harry and Ron turned to each other.
"She's not okay," Ron said.
"I know. We've got to watch her."
"She won't even cry."
"She's trying to be strong," Harry said simply.
"I'm worried about her Harry. I mean we were out under the tree and everything was
great. I was happy and she was happy. Now I wonder if we're ever going to see her smile
again."
"I know me and Ginny interrupted something between you and Hermione. My question
is: did you finally tell her the truth? Is that what we interrupted?"
"I did tell her the truth. That's not what you interrupted," Ron said, somewhat shyly.
"You were going to kiss her! I bet you wanted to kick my ass right then," Harry said.
"That doesn't matter now. What matters is watching out for 'Mione, and doing a whole
lot of destroying."
"You're right... We'd better try to get some sleep. We're in for a wild ride starting
tomorrow."
