The two next days crawled by at a sleeping pace. Since they had already spent two days at the clinic and were planning to go back on Friday, Hermione and Anselma had to work twice as hard at the Ministry on Wednesday and Thursday. They were drowning in letters from foreign colleagues, paperwork for their clinic and the preparation for their next colloquium. The only thing that Hermione was able to do for her patient was to have a chat with a couple healers and Transfiguration researchers about human transfiguration. She did not want to get into details though, because Joy's case was still very uncertain.
By the time Thursday came to an end, Hermione was so exhausted that she had nearly forgotten why she was so eager to go back to the clinic the next day. It did not help either that, when she came out of the Floo in her living room, Ginny was lying on her couch and watching television.
"Good evening darling" Ginny greeted her in a flirtatious tone.
Hermione smiled while sighing and resting her outer robes and purse on the kitchen counter.
"Good evening to you to. Not to be rude, but what are you doing here? And how did you get in?"
Ginny barely looked up from her program as she answered "Remember how you gave me access to your Floo a couple months ago when you went abroad with your boss and needed someone to feed Crookshanks? Well, you never lifted that access."
Hermione rolled her eyes and joined Ginny on the couch. The redhead was watching a Muggle handball game. Apparently, Muggle sports often inspired her to find new Quidditch techniques. Hermione also noticed that Ginny had been roaming through her cupboard, for there were two bags of crisps, a guacamole box and a bottle of red displayed on the coffee table.
"Sorry about that, I was really hungry after training. How come you only have appetizers in your kitchen? Do you ever eat in? – Merlin, that was impressive! What do you mean, fault? Her foot clearly wasn't on the line!"
"Don't worry about it. I mostly eat in the Ministry canteen. And when Harry comes over, it's mostly just for appetizers before he goes on one of his dates. But what about the why of your being here?" Hermione reiterated.
Ginny's mouth twitched for a second and, after a short pause, she muted the television and faced her friend.
"So, you know how I've been seeing someone lately?" the redhead asked.
"Yes, Ronald wasn't very subtle about it last time."
"We kinda got into a fight and I know she's waiting for me at home and wants to talk about it."
Hermione sighed once more. Like brother, like sister. How many times had Ron and her gotten into a fight because Ron would run for it as soon as she wanted to discuss serious matters? She put a soothing hand on Ginny's knee and smiled at her gently.
"And how is your being here going to solve that?"
"Well, I ... I haven't really thought about that yet ..."
"What were you fighting about anyway?"
"Well sh... the person I'm seeing ..."
"Come on Ginny, it's me. How would I ever be bothered by your dating women?"
"Right. Well, she started leaving more and more things at my place, and at breakfast I asked her to pick up some of her things. And she took it as me telling her that I didn't want her to feel at home at my place."
"It does sound like it."
"But it isn't that at all! It's just ... I'm not fussy, you know that, but Merlin, her things are always so messy! Like, why do her earrings have to be actual vegetables that are going to rot if you leave them in a place for too long?"
Hermione's brows furrowed for a second. Suddenly, their latest night out made much more sense.
"Wait a minute ... Are you dating Luna?"
Ginny's ears turned crimson, and she jumped up from the couch to avoid Hermione's gaze.
"Stop laughing!"
"I'm not ..." a fit of laughter kept her from going on "Okay, maybe I am laughing a little. But it's just so ... unexpected. For some reason, I had never considered Luna to be a sexual person."
"Well, you're severely mistaken!" Ginny blurted out and her cheeks turned a darker shade of red as she realized what she had just said. "Anyway ... I just ... I want to be the one telling Harry. So please don't say anything."
"Harry would probably be very supportive, you know. After all, he's the one who left you because he turned out to be gay." Hermione argued.
"I know, I know. But it's just awkward, you know. Luna used to fancy Harry and she went to that party with him in 6th year ... And we often hang out all together ... I don't want people to feel uncomfortable."
"Right, because lies always make people more comfortable"
This time, it was Ginny's turn to roll her eyes at her friend. Oh, how much she could loath Hermione for always being right. She did come back to the couch though and settled on the armrest furthest from Hermione. Ginny still had her Gryffindor pride.
"So ... What do you reckon I should do?"
"For starters, do you really like Luna?"
"Of course, she's awesome!"
"Then you should find a way to show her. Because running away from this discussion just sounds like she is right to think that you don't want to commit."
Ginny's face twisted in a pained expression.
"It's not that I don't want to commit ... It's just, you know, with Quidditch and everything, I've never really been in a committed relationship. Even with Harry it was different, because he was away for his Auror's training all the time."
"But you do want to commit do Luna, don't you?"
"Yes, yes ... But we've only been dating for three months. I don't want to rush things ..."
"Then don't. Just tell her that. And about her things lying around; why don't you give her some space where she can store her things?"
"Like a drawer or something?"
"That could be a good start."
"All right, that does seem manageable ... How are you so good at relationships when you're the one who's always single?"
Oh, Ginevra, always so subtle.
"Now let's not slip away from our initial topic. You finish that glass of red and get your witch!" Hermione encouraged her.
After a couple more minutes of protest, Ginny was finally gone. It was late already by then, and the only thing left for Hermione to do was to turn off the tv and fall asleep on the couch.
It were the birds that woke Hermione up the next morning. Or what she thought to be the birds who were nesting in her garden. It was only as the creature started tugging her hair that Hermione realized that it was actually an owl. She sat up with a tired growl and reached for her alarm clock. Which she did not find, for she was still lying on the couch and not her bed. That realization woke her up entirely and she jumped up to find the closest clock. It was 8 am already! The cursed and ran to the bathroom to fix her hair and make-up. The owl hooted annoyedly and Hermione ran back to give it a treat and pocket the parchment it was wearing.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione was apparating to the foot of the clinic's building with fresh clothes and passable make-up, but a very empty stomach. The elevator seemed to take two decades to reach the fifth floor, but, finally, she was at the clinic. At a very empty clinic. She called out a couple of times, but she could not find Anselma. The breakroom was completely empty, except for a tea-stained cup on the window seat. Her tutor was probably already in the middle of her session.
Hermione silently crept through the main hall and bent her head towards Anselma's office. She could hear two distinct voices, Anselma's and another woman's. Was Narcissa Black already there or did Anselma have another patient that she had not told Hermione about? She would not know before their session was over.
Suddenly, a deep voice echoed behind Hermione, and she nearly toppled over out of surprise. She turned around with the little dignity she had left, only to face a young wizard in very elegant robes. He smiled awkwardly and walked towards the reception desk.
"So ... err ... I'm a friend of Harry's. I mean, a colleague of Mr. Potter's. He has been tutoring my Auror's training. And ... well ... our latest mission has been rather tough on me. So, he suggested that I come here. He thought it could help. But I don't want to bother you. All Aurors go through this, I don't need to get a special treatment or anything ..."
"No, please, you aren't bothering anyone! I would be glad to be of help!" Hermione reassured him, and the young wizard brightened up a little.
"I am sorry, I did not even introduce myself. I am Nathan Cobwick."
"Glad to meet you, Nathan. Would you like to have a cup of tea in my office? If you are free right now, we could talk your situation over and see what sort of journey fits you best."
"That would be great, thank you!"
Soon enough, Hermione was so caught up in Nathan's life that she had forgotten all about Anselma's session once more. It turned out that Nathan had been leading an undercover mission amongst neo-purists who were greatly disappointed by the demise of the Dark Lord. For over six months, he had been forced to witness the cruellest acts of barbary towards Muggles without moving a finger. His mission had been clear: he could not give away his identity by protecting any Muggle. He had to gain these people's trust to gather as much information about them as he could.
Nathan really seemed shaken up by what he had witnessed. Hermione and he agreed to meet up as often as possible before he had to leave for his next mission. She had only two patients as for now, but Hermione already felt that her biggest issue would be not to care about them too much. They showed her their most vulnerable selves: how could she possibly not get attached? She would need Anselma's advice on the matter.
She was standing in the breakroom now, fixing herself some coffee and late breakfast, thinking about ways to help her patients, when a blonde head suddenly appeared in the doorframe.
"Oh, I take it that this is not the restroom" the blonde noted.
It was her. Narcissa Black. Hermione choked on her eggs at the sight of her dress. It was indeed a particularly hot August day, but nothing could have prepared her for the sight of this woman in a summer dress. The soft white cotton fabric ran over her collarbones in two thin straps and displayed her shoulders and cleavage fully. Hermione could make out a slight sunburn right over her chest, where the skin was thinnest. The fabric then hugged her petite waist and large hips tightly, before it left her body and hovered over her pale knees.
Narcissa cocked an eyebrow at her, and Hermione realised that she had been staring for quite some time. She finally swallowed her food properly and found back her voice.
"Yes, err, sorry. The restroom is just the next door to your right, you can't miss it, it's the only one with a lock."
"Thank you" Narcissa coldly said before she left the room without another glance at Hermione.
The young witch could only stay there, with her coffee in the one hand and her fork in the other, utterly embarrassed, and humiliated. Life was not done with her though, because Anselma joined her in the breakroom at this exact moment, proving that she had been standing right behind Narcissa this whole time. She seemed slightly amused at Hermione's state of distress.
"I believe I now have a theory on why, every time a beautiful witch came by, you have been very keen on dropping things..."
So, that's that.