A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Assignment #9 1. You Are My Sunshine — "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray."
Task #1: write about a character trying to cheer someone up. Whether it works or not is up to you.
Word Count: 2834
Unraveling, it was all unraveling in the blink of an eye. Hermione had know the war would go wrong in all different ways. She knew that once the horacruxes were destroyed, things would shift, things would start falling apart around them.
She watched as the fiendfyre did its job, as it consumed everything in its path. She watched in horror as her own screams echoed in her ears. She wanted to save them, she knew she couldn't save them.
Tears stinging her eyes, she was suddenly standing in the Great Hall, watching the battle around her. Her wand was in her hand, her entire body trembling. Unraveling, her mind was unraveling. She'd seen her classmates die. She'd seen horrible things, things that were now starting to take a toll. Her mind tried to force her back into the present, taking her from those moments, those horrible moments.
She felt herself cast a shield charm, a powerful one, that knocked back two spells aimed at her. She felt the world shift, spin, as everything blurred. All she saw were black blurs, moving, surrounding her. She felt her legs give way before blackness claimed her sight. She remembered feeling pain, feeling her face splitting down the middle. There was a loud 'thunk' as she hit the ground.
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"And in some cases, a head injury can cause internal bleeding."
Hermione blinked her eyes open. Someone was reading something, something about head injuries? It didn't sound like a magical book, no, a muggle one? Who would be reading a muggle text book?
Her vision was obscured. Something was covering her left eye, but it didn't matter since everything was incredibly blurry anyway. She remembered...her face had hurt, like it had been split. Had it been split, was she alright now? She blinked her eyes, feeling the eyelids move. She let out a small sigh of relief.
"Hermione? You're awake?"
She heard the sound of a heavy book being set down.
"I'll got get Madame Pomfrey, she'll be able to explain things better than me."
"No, wait, don't go!" Hermione nearly yelled. Madame Pomfry, that meant she was in the hospital wing. The battle! She remembered the battle. Hermione tried to turn her head to see who had been sitting by her side, but realized she wasn't able to move her head.
"Don't try to move, they did a full body bind on you. It's supposed to keep you from moving so you're body can heal. You were hit with something really bad. I really should get Madame Pomfrey... I'm only her apprentice."
"Hannah?" Hermione guessed, knowing the Hufflepuff girl had talked about becoming a healer back when they were in muggle studies, what had that been, a year ago?
"Yes, it's Hannah. Don't keep trying to move, Hermione. Oh, right, you've probably realized you can't see too well. You've got an eye patch on your left eye. It was damaged by the spell."
"How bad?"
"I'm going to get Madame Pomfrey because I don't want to say the wrong thing and give you misinformation," Hannah stated. Hermione could hear her walking away. Her shoes made soft sounds, not clomps or clicks, but almost soft tap tap tap. She heard Hannah return with Madame Pomfrey. Her shoes clicked and clacked as she walked.
"Miss Granger, Miss Abbott tells me you're awake. How do you feel?"
"I can't see too clearly and I can't move."
"I'm going to undo the body bind now, don't try to move too fast or too suddenly. You're body suffered quite a shock."
Hermione felt the spell lift, like a heavy cement block had been lifted from her. Slowly, she curled her fingertips towards her palms. They moved with ease. Her toes also moved. She turned her head slowly, seeing only shadowy figures. She knew Hannah was the shorter of the two.
"What happened?" she finally asked, once she was sure she could move all her limbs.
"You were hit almost point blank in the face with a spell. It caused the skin across your face to split. There's been some damage to your left eye, you're currently wearing an eye patch to keep it from being irritated while it heals."
"Will it heal? Why is everything so blurry?" Hermione asked. She could hear the hesitation in Madame Pomfrey's voice. Hannah's had been more truthful, even if Hannah hadn't told her everything.
"There is a good chance you'll regain complete sight in your right eye, Miss Granger. We'll just have to wait to see how your left one progresses."
"Hannah was reading about head injuries?"
"Oh, you heard that? Sorry, I was studying. I wanted to see how muggles treated injuries, see if there was something there, something that might be useful," Hannah explained.
"You did hit your head, Miss Granger, but it didn't cause any damage that wasn't easily repairable with the right spells," Madame Pomfrey answered. Hermione only nodded slightly. Now that she was no longer focusing on her vision, she realized the skin across her face felt tight.
"You said my skin split? Were you able to fix it?" she asked, fighting the urge to raise her hands to her face. If it was still healing, that could only make it take longer.
"To some extent. There will always be a scar, cursed wounds do not heal as easily. You are lucky Miss Abbott got you here right away."
Hermione turned her head to where Hannah was standing.
"Thank you."
"I only did what I needed to do," Hannah said softly. Hermione didn't speak, her mind trying to figure out everything. Her vision had been compromised.
"Miss Granger, you need to rest while your face and eyes heal. Miss Abbott here will administer a sleeping potion if necessary."
"Yes, Ma'am," Hermione said softly. She heard Madame Pomfrey walk away. Hannah sat back down next to Hermione's bed. Hermione turned to face her. She couldn't see more than just a blurry shape, but she felt a small bit of comfort about Hannah being there.
"Is she telling the truth?" Hermione finally asked.
"She is. We were able to mostly heal your face, Hermione. You're going to have an interesting scar, right down the middle. As for your eyes, only time will tell about that."
"Thank you," Hermione whispered, settling back into the bed. She knew she needed to rest, but her mind kept spinning. Unraveling, everything was unraveling. Her plans for her future, whatever they had been, they'd have required her eyes. What if they didn't heal? What if she could never see properly again.
"Did you want that potion?"
"No," Hermione said. "I... I don't know what's going to happen and I had all these ideas for the future..."
"It's alright. I can hold your hand if you're scared?" Hannah offered. Hermione nodded as Hannah continued talking. "Don't start counting them out yet. I mean, you shouldn't count your jewels until all the nifflers have been found," Hannah said, putting hand on Hermione's.
"I've never heard that expression before," Hermione laughed softly, her mind remembering how they'd learned about nifflers in class one day. Those days seemed so far away. She knew at some point she'd have to go back, take her N.E. . That was something to think about, the fact she might not even be able to finish school.
"It's an old one, my grandmum used to use it. What are you thinking about?"
"N.E. . What if I can't even take them?"
"You're the brightest witch in our year, Hermione. They'll find a way, trust me. Hey, want to learn about muggle medicine? I still need to study and the subject is just boring enough it might put you to sleep without the potion?" Hannah suggested.
"Sure, might learn something too," Hermione added. Hannah started reading again while Hermione's mind drifted off. Unraveling...everything was unraveling, but maybe, it could be something else?
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"Hermione, wake up!"
Hermione blinked her eyes open quickly. The room was blurry, but maybe a bit less so? She quickly put that thought from her mind. It was only wishful thinking, hope, and she knew hope could play games with the mind. She could see another blob standing at the foot of her bed.
"Wow, they were right about your face!"
Hermione recognized the voice. She knew she should be happy to hear it, but really? He was going to go on about her face? That was the first thing he said to her?
"Hi, Ron," she said, trying to smile, but her face didn't want to cooperate.
"You look like... glad you're alright."
"What about everyone else?" Hermione asked. She wasn't even sure who was alive, who had survived the war. They must have won, Hannah would have said something otherwise.
"Harry's fine, Ginny's a little banged up. All my brothers survived."
"Who did we lose?" Hermione asked, softly. There had to be casualties on their side, didn't there?
"Lupin's missing a leg, but he'll live. Lavender's dead, so's that weird kid that kept taking Harry's picture second year."
"Creevey," Hermione said. "Colin Creevey. What was he even doing in the battle?"
"Sneaked back in, I guess," Ron answered. "So, um, are they going to be able to fix your face? Make it look...human again?"
Hermione felt her anger swell in her chest. She'd almost been killed and all Ron could talk about was her looks?
"They did the best, it's a cursed wound, it's going to scar. They said I might be able to see properly."
"Right, your eyes. If they don't heal, it's alright. You read too much anyway," Ron stated. Hermione blinked, tears welling up in her eyes. She could feel them, their heat. She wished she could direct that heat at Ron. How dare he! It was her reading that had saved them, it was her reading that had gotten all three of them through school and...and... She bit back the tears.
"I need to sleep," she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling.
"Right, I'll see you later 'Mione."
She heard Ron leave, huge clomping footsteps. Part of her wanted to cover her face with her blankets. Was she really that horrible looking now? She knew she'd never been a great beauty, that she'd never really cared about her looks, but... his comments stung. The fact he didn't care about her eyes, one of the most important parts of her, in her opinion... how could he be so cruel?
"Hermione?"
Hermione stopped sniffling. She felt someone gently wipe the tears from her face with a soft cloth.
"It's alright, it's going to be alright. He's a git. He's always been a git. Don't listen to him. Here, I thought about what you said before, about your N.E. . You've probably not be able to study much on the run, so I found the books for some of the classes. I can read them to you, if you'd like. I've got to take mine next year anyway. They're talking about this year not counting, that we can all come back next year, redo this mess of a year."
"Thank you, Hannah. And yes, I would like it if you'd read me the textbooks. I know I won't be able to do the practicals, but at least hearing about the theory will be helpful. It will at least feel like something hasn't completely unraveled."
"Sure, and you know, sometimes things need to unravel to make something better. Like if you drop a stitch in knitting? You have to unravel the whole scarf to fix it, but then it's stronger because it's not missing that stitch anymore," Hannah commented as she sat down next to Hermione. Hermione nodded. She'd never thought about it that way. Hannah was making her think about things in different ways, maybe that was a good thing, maybe it was a good thing Hannah had taken an interest in her, maybe she should ignore Ron?
"Alright, do you want to start with history of magic, potions, or charms?"
"History, it'll end up putting me to sleep, but rest leads to recovery, right?" Hermione asked, laughing softly. She heard Hannah laugh as she opened the book. Hermione could smell the old pages, the leather cover. Her mind wondered back to the day they'd learned about amortentia, how hers had smelled almost like that, only with a hint of something else, something she couldn't quite remember now.
True to her word, Hermione fell asleep after only hearing a few pages. She was starting to drift off, when Hannah closed the book.
"Sweet dreams, Hermione," she whispered. Hermione felt a slight pressure on her forehead before she completely surrendered to slumber. Had Hannah just kissed her?
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"Hermione? Are you awake yet?"
Hermione blinked her eyes open, this time realizing the world was quite as blurry. She could make out Hannah's face. A huge smile crossed her face, stretching the skin. It was tight, a small bit painful, but that didn't stop the smile.
"Hannah! I can see you!" she exclaimed. "I see your face!"
"That's great! I brought you some breakfast. Madame Pomfrey said you should probably start eating solid food, get off the nutrient potions. I got you pancakes and strawberries."
"Thank you," Hermione said, sitting up in her bed. Hannah gently put the plum colored tray on Hermione's lap. "Tell me the truth, Hannah, is my face really that bad?"
"No, not really. I think it gives you character," Hannah answered. Hermione nodded, slowly starting to eat her breakfast. It felt amazing to taste food again. She savored each bite. Hannah had slid into her usual seat, ready to help Hermione if she needed it.
"At least it's not scaring you away," Hermione whispered.
"I don't care about something as trivial a scar, I mean, it's from the battle, it's proof you fought and won. We did win! Oh, I managed to get a copy of the transfiguration book for next year, so we can read that later if you want. I still have charms and potions too."
"Don't you have other patients?" Hermione asked, after a moment. She couldn't be the only one here in the infirmary.
"I do, but none of them are you," Hannah replied. "Oh! You know how Ron was here the other day saying all those stupid things?"
"Yeah?" Hermione answered, wondering where this was going. Had Ron done something stupid again? It wouldn't surprise her.
"Well, you're not going to like this, or maybe you will, apparently he's dumped you and is going with Parvati Patil."
"We... we weren't together, not really," Hermione muttered. They'd shared one stupid kiss in the middle of things. She regretted it now.
"Oh, so you and Harry?" Hannah asked. Hermione could hear something in her voice, but couldn't quite place the emotion.
"He's like a brother to me," Hermione answered, turning her attention from her breakfast to the girl sitting next to her. Even though her vision was slightly better, Hannah's hair still seemed to form a halo around her head.
"Does, um, that mean, you're single?"
Hermione blinked. What did that have to do with anything? The memory of yesterday returned, the kiss on the forehead that might have been a dream. Maybe it had been real? Had Hannah kissed her? Hermione found she wasn't opposed to that idea, she'd never really considered kissing a girl before, but now, her mind swam with images of Hannah.
"I am," Hermione finally answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Because, I...um, Madame Pomfrey said it would probably be good for you to get up and walk around, and I was wondering if you'd, um, like to have lunch with me? There's not a ton of people here, since the battle. There's some tables set up outside, I mean, you'd have to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes...but we could... you know... um-"
"Hannah? Are you asking me out on a date?" Hermione asked, partially to help Hannah stop stumbling over her word, partially because she hoped the answer was 'yes'.
"Yes," Hannah squeaked.
"I'd like that," Hermione stated. "As long as you promise to leave the history book here," she added with a laugh.
"Great! I'll go see about having a lunch arranged, and I'll be back around noon?"
"That's perfect. I'll be here," Hermione joked, feeling lighter than she ever had before. Hannah nodded, taking the now empty tray from Hermione and heading out. Hermione watched her semi-blurry form and smiled.
Unraveling, that's what her life was doing, unraveling, but Hermione realized she was alright with it. Hannah had been right. Sometimes, things needed to be unraveled to make something better, something stronger, and Hermione couldn't help but feel that her feelings, although newly discovered, for Hannah were most certainly stronger than anything she'd felt for anyone before.
She wasn't sure she'd ever be entirely healed, but as long as Hannah was by her side, Hermione realized she could face anything, even the looming new year and her N.E. .